5B
by HidingBehindMyWords
Summary: Jace Herondale is a NYC firefighter. He has a great job, a supportive family, and plenty of girls to keep him company. His life seems pretty set until an artsy college dropout moves into the flat next door to his 5th floor walk-up. Clace. Background Sizzy. Slow burn. AU/AH Updates every Sunday
1. Stairway to Heaven

**A/N:** **Hello, Lovelies! Brand new Clace chaptered fic here for you. This is just the prologue which is rather short, so I'll be posting the first chapter soon (probably tonight as well). Please let me know what you think!**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own anything related to TMI or any pop culture references made within this fanfiction._

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A loud crash woke Jace up abruptly, slivers of sunlight peeking through the slots in his blinds. He groaned, throwing his arm over his eyes and turning over as he tried to decipher how much of the banging noise that woke him was real and how much was in his head, courtesy of that sixth shot of whiskey last night. When he heard laughter and shouting accompany said banging, he grouchily sat up determining that he was obviously not going to get anymore sleep now. He glanced at the long, blonde hair peeking out from under the sheets next to him and rolled his eyes as he got out of bed.

As he was pulling on sweatpants, he heard a series of thumps followed by a high-pitched screech. He headed toward his front door, unsure if his intention was to help or hurt whoever was causing all this racket at 10:00am on a Saturday. Jace poked his head out the door and looked around taking in the ridiculous scene in front of him.

A small couch was wedged between the landing below him and the railing leading up the last set of stairs. He could make out a set of pale, hairy arms flailing from under the couch and deduced that the owner of said arms was the source of the screeching that had prompted him into action.

Just as Jace was ready to roll his eyes and close his door, he saw a small girl with bright, red hair piled on top of her head squeeze around the couch from the landing below and run to the stair above where it was stuck on the railing. "Okay, Si on the count of 3 I'll pull but you have to push!"

"Push?! How can I push? I'm pinned! I told you that you should have let Jonathan help move you in!"

The petite redhead placed her hands on her hips, "I don't need Jon's help!"

"Sure, YOU don't. You're not the one who's experiencing death by couch! Do you know how inhumane a crushing death is? It's not sanctioned by any governing bodies! This is literally cruel and unusual punishment."

Jace watched the girl shake her head in what he assumed was exasperation, "I'm pretty sure a pressing death takes several days and clearly the couch is not affecting your lungs. Now stop whining and get ready to push...one," Jace saw her take a deep breath and assume a ridiculous crouching position as if she was going to lift the couch above her and off the boy trapped below. "Two," Jace acted without thinking, "….three!"

Jace had placed his arms around the girl and lifted the small couch up and off her companion below, but he found he couldn't maneuver it very far with her still standing there in between him and the sofa. He leaned his face down to her ear and spoke quietly, "As thrilling as I'm sure it is standing in my arms, could you step to the left, Doll? I would prefer not to hold this all morning."

The girl, who had still been gripping the couch as if she was lifting it with her eyes screwed tightly shut, gasped and spun around in his embrace. Jace was met with a pair of the greenest eyes he had ever seen, but didn't take time to dwell on her face as her new position allowed him the mobility to straighten the couch out and he crouched down, carefully balancing it on the stairs.

As he stood back up, he took his time scanning the girl still in front of him. He took in the shapely legs in black leggings, following them up to small hips and what he imagined was an even smaller waist though it was hard to tell through the baggy, NYU tee shirt. He skimmed quickly over a chest he couldn't make out, lingering on a slim, creamy neck and delicately shaped jaw before taking in pouty lips, a light dusting of freckles across her nose, and those striking, green eyes again.

Green eyes that were currently narrowed at him.


	2. Ramblin' Man

**A/N: Here's the first chapter as promised! Not sure what the update schedule for this fic is going to be yet. I have a couple more chapters written and most of the story planned out, but it is all going to depend on interest levels being there and real life cooperating.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters from TMI or any pop-culture references made within in this fic._

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Just as the girl opened her mouth to speak, she snapped it shut at a groan sounding from the landing below. "Clary? What happened? Am I dead? If I'm dead, why am laying on scratchy carpet? Am I ghost? If I'm a ghost, why am I on a scratchy carpet that smells like fish and garlic? How long-"

"You're not dead, Simon. The couch is off of you, now _please_ stop smelling the carpet and get up!" The girl - Clary, Jace assumed - tried to peer down at him over the couch.

"You lifted it? How? Were you bitten by a radioactive spider? Have you been exposed to gamma radiation? Did you-"

"Simon," Clary tried again to temper the boy's ranting to no avail.

"You know, I've heard of mothers getting superhuman strength and lifting vehicles to rescue their children. I didn't know that our friendship could inspire that in you, though. I'm touched Fray, really thank you so so so-"

"SIMON!" This time the boy halted his rambling and quickly sat up, his glasses askew and the imprint of the carpet on his right cheek. "I don't think that I'm the one you should be thanking," she continued in a softer tone and turned toward Jace.

Jace apathetically observed the mousey boy clumsily get to his feet, as he tried to smooth out his wrinkled band tee shirt and push dark curls back out of his eyes. He caught sight of Jace, who was still standing probably a little too close to Clary and his mouth dropped open and closed several times reminding Jace of a fish.

Just as Jace was about to make a snide remark to the girl's gaping friend, he saw the girl thrust a small hand out toward him in anticipation of a handshake. "I'm Clary and that," she jerked her head indicating the brown-haired boy below them, "is my friend Simon that you just saved."

Jace smirked and took Clary's hand in his. "Jace. I'm guessing you're my new neighbor," he asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced from the couch to behind him where the door of the apartment next to his was propped open. "Unless you're one of those good Samaritans that have been going around trying to beautify New York by knitting sweaters for fire hydrants and street signs. Though a couch blocking the 5th floor landing is more Reinoso-esque than expected and I suspect would be underappreciated by the building residents."

Clary smiled, "Well, I can't knit and while I would say that I have an appreciation for all forms of art I tend to work better with the two-dimensional mediums." The mousey boy below cleared his throat and she seemed to notice that Jace still had a hold of her hand and pulled it back quickly. Jace instantly missed its warmth and frowned momentarily before shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"Do you need some help?" Apparently, he should have shook his head a bit harder. Since when did he offer to help anyone move?

He had trouble regretting the offer however when she directed a bright smile up at him. "That would be great, actually. We got an early start and I'm mostly moved in, but this couch is giving us a bit of trouble."

The boy below seemed to find his voice again at that. "I think at this point we should just cut our losses. Couches are so last year, Fray."

Clary rolled her eyes and laughed and Jace found himself instinctively leaning in toward her at the sound. "I'm pretty sure you're thinking of lawn chairs. Couches are totally in right now, Si."

"Lawn chairs were never in, Fray. This is Brooklyn, no one even has a lawn to put a lawn chair in."

Jace just stood there glancing back and forth between the pair, unsure what to make of this conversation. Clary seemed to notice and turned toward him again and asked, "Top or bottom?"

Jace's mouth dropped slightly open at that. "What," he asked dumbly, feeling his blood rush through his veins.

Clary just smiled sweetly at him and he wasn't sure if he was grateful or frustrated that her mind wasn't in the gutter with him. "Do you want to try to lift the couch from the top or bottom of the stairs," she clarified.

For the second time in five minutes, Jace shook his head slightly trying to clear his mind. "Oh, um, top I guess." She nodded and squeezed back around the couch to the bottom of the landing where her friend was still standing.

A few minutes later, the couch was set down in an apartment that was the mirror image of his own, but currently filled with boxes. Jace stood there uncomfortably with his hands in his pockets before clearing his throat. "Is there anything else?"

Clary pushed a stray curl from her face and Jace's hand twitched a little, wanting to twirl it around his fingers. He shoved his hands just a little deeper into his pockets. "No, that was the last thing. Thanks for helping."

Jace nodded and made his way over to the door, taking that as his cue to leave. Just as he had one foot out the door, he felt her hand curl gently around his bicep and he swung back around to face her. "Seriously, thank you. I probably should have planned that better."

Jace gave her a small smile, "You're welcome, Clary." She seemed to shiver slightly and he wondered if there was a draft that he didn't feel. He didn't dwell on it though, feeling oddly content when she returned his smile.

"I don't really have anything set up here, but would you want to maybe come out with us to breakfast?" She tucked another wayward curl behind her ear, "My treat. As a proper thank you for saving Simon."

Jace was just about to reply when his apartment door opened to the right of them and the blonde from last night poked her head out. "Jace? I can't find my other shoe and I know I had both of them when we got in last night." She pouted, "Help me look?"

Jace glanced over at her. In her rumpled dress and leftover makeup, she didn't look as good as she did last night. She did still have a great rack, though. "Sure," he nodded, "I'll be right in, Kelly."

Her eyes narrowed, "It's Kaelie!" She closed the door in a huff and Jace turned back to Clary who looked like she was trying to hold in laughter.

Jace smirked and shrugged unapologetically. "Raincheck?"

Clary didn't bother holding in her laughter now. "Sure thing, Casanova." Jace smiled back and winked before heading back over to his own apartment.

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 **A/N 2: I'm in need of a beta for this fic if anyone is interested in taking that on. Let me know what you thought of the first chapter!**


	3. Hot Patootie-Bless My Soul

Two and a half weeks later, Jace was trudging into the mailroom after a particularly long shift at the station when he saw Clary again. Her back was to him, but he easily recognized the wild, red curls trying to escape the bun on top of her head and he certainly wasn't complaining of the view of her in those paint-stained leggings. Her posture was relaxed and with her was – crap – that was Mrs. Tripler. Mrs. Tripler lived on the main level and all the residents knew to avoid her like the plague.

Jace remembered the first time he met her. He had been watching Monday night football and she had stomped all the way up to the 5th floor and pounded continuously on his door. He had opened it to find her red-faced, sweaty, and panting from the stairs and he didn't even get out a greeting before she launched into a tirade about how he walked too loudly. How she concluded that any footsteps she heard in her ground level apartment were coming from the 5th floor, Jace didn't know, but after about 5 minutes straight of her ranting and raving, seemingly without taking a breath, he simply closed the door in her face and went back to watching the game.

Jace had a few more unfortunate encounters with the building's resident witch after that, but had become more adept at dodging her over the years. He considered going upstairs and coming back for his mail another time, but Clary had seemed like a nice enough girl and had been a relatively quiet and easy-going neighbor thus far, which was hard to come by in New York. He took a deep breath and steeled himself for a confrontation as he moved forward into the mailroom, hoping that Mrs. Tripler hadn't already scared her into searching for a new apartment.

As he got closer, Jace thought he must be more tired than he realized, because he almost thought he saw a smile on Mrs. Tripler's face. The muscles in her cheeks were twitching slightly, probably from disuse, and her dark brown eyes were watery but were surprisingly not narrowed into a glare behind her drugstore glasses. He shook his head incredulously and came up behind Clary just as Mrs. Tripler turned to walk away.

The old hag caught sight of him and the scowl instantly returned, causing Jace to actually exhale in relief because the smile had looked so grotesquely out of place on her face. She hit him in the shin with her cane that he was pretty sure she didn't even need as she passed and continued out the door, back to the manic grumbling which he was accustomed to from her.

Clary turned to face him then, her green eyes wide but a warm smile in place on her face. Jace felt a weird rush of blood to his fingertips, but he was sure it was just a strange reaction to the bruise that was likely forming on his shin right now. Unsure what to do now that the immediate threat of Mrs. Tripler had passed, Jace stuffed his tingling fingers into his pockets and settled on a simple, "Hey."

"Hey yourself," Clary turned and put her key in her mailbox and Jace followed suit remembering why he had originally headed here.

"I hope Mrs. Tripler didn't say anything too nasty. It's usually not too hard to avoid her," Jace mentioned as he started to sort through what was actual mail and bills and what was just junk.

"Wait, what? Do you mean Dorothy? Why would I need to avoid her?" Clary asked, closing her mailbox and turning to lean against it and look at Jace, her brows furrowed in confusion.

"Dorothy?" Jace sputtered incredulously, "I didn't think the old witch even had a first name!"

Clary scoffed and tapped his arm reproachfully as she shifted her mail to her other hand. "Of course she has a first name! Who doesn't have a first name? And you didn't answer my question – why would I avoid her?"

Jace raised an eyebrow, "Maybe because she's a nasty piece of work who 'accidentally' hits me with her cane any chance she gets. I've never met a more miserable person and I've lived in New York for 15 years."

"Are you sure you didn't do something to her?" Clary asked with a confused expression on her face as she started toward the stairs and Jace followed suit. "She has been perfectly nice to me. She was just giving me a recipe for zucchini bread," she continued, waving a small yellow piece of paper in the air to emphasize her point.

"Probably poison," he muttered under his breath, though he was pretty sure she heard him when she glanced over looking like she was holding back laughter. Jace shook his head and climbed the flights of stairs with Clary in silent disbelief. As they rounded the fourth-floor landing, he still hadn't come up with an explanation and shook his head in confusion. It didn't make any sense. "It just doesn't make any sense."

Clary paused climbing the steps and turned to face him. "Jace, most people are perfectly nice if you give them half a chance."

"And all that glitters is gold," Jace deadpanned. Though looking down into her bright green eyes and earnest expression, he could see how it would be difficult for anyone to be mean to a face like that.

Clary rolled her eyes good naturedly and continued up the last flight of stairs to their apartments, Jace following trying to ignore the strange tingling in his fingers that wouldn't seem to abate.

* * *

A week later, a nasty tropical storm blew through NYC, taking out the power to most residents. Approximately 7 hours into his shift, Jace then spent over two hours at his assigned site, waiting for the utility company to make it through the traffic and sorting out higher priority calls from the storm and another three hours waiting for the transformer repair to be made before he could deem the area safe to open to the public again and finally head home.

When he arrived back to his small apartment building in Brooklyn, he was unsurprised to find that their power still had not been restored. By the time Jace trudged up to the 5th floor landing, he was soggy and tired and really just looking forward to peeling off his clothes and plopping face first into his bed for the next 10 hours.

Jace paused just before his apartment, noticing a dull glow emanating from under Clary's door and some faint music drifting into the hall. Before he could fully process or question his actions, Jace knocked on her door and only a moment later the door swung open. Clary looked up at him with a warm smile on her face, clad in sweats and slipper socks, and oddly Jace felt some of the tension drain out of his shoulders.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were holding up okay through the blackout." Jace wasn't entirely sure why he had knocked on her door, but neighborly concerns seemed as good a reason as any. Never mind that he had never checked on his previous neighbor – Bruce? Brian? Maybe his name was Brendan….in any case, they hadn't been close in the 3 years they had lived next to each other.

Clary opened the door wider and gestured behind her, "Yeah, just burning some candles and using my battery powered speakers. Would you like to come in?" Jace found himself nodding and shuffling in after her, taking in the cozy apartment and toeing off his work boots as to not track mud in.

It looked different than the last time he was here. The boxes were all gone now and bright tapestries and paintings covered the walls, seemingly at random. The small olive-colored couch he had helped her move in was now covered in a few throw pillows and a cozy looking blanket was thrown haphazardly over the back of it. Jace noticed a sketchbook and colored pencils strewn across the coffee table next to some magazines and his fingers twitched with the urge to tidy it.

"Coffee?" Jace turned to see Clary in the small kitchen to his right, already pouring him a mug before he had even answered the question, but nodded anyway.

"Cream and sugar if you have it," he said as she paused with a questioning look on her face. Clary hummed and nodded in response, fulfilling the request before handing him the mug and pouring herself a cup. He noticed she didn't bother putting anything in her coffee and though he cringed at the thought of drinking the bitter beverage that way, her face took on a look of contentment as she took the first sip.

"Do you want anything to eat," Clary offered. "I can't really cook anything with the power out, but I have zucchini bread."

After politely turning down the bread that he still wasn't convinced wouldn't poison him, Jace sipped his coffee, a little unsure of what they were doing. Once again Clary took the lead; her light touch on his arm guided him to the sofa and she spread the blanket out between them. He cocked his head to the side, trying to concentrate on the music that was playing and not the fact that their legs were nearly touching under the blanket, but he found he didn't recognize the song. "What song is this?"

Clary gasped and her eyes widened as she leaned toward him. "It's _Damnit, Janet_!" Jace just looked at her blankly, unsure of what that was supposed to mean to him and fighting the urge to lean in toward her as well, his fingers tapping nervously on his mug. "From Rocky Horror Picture Show," she elaborated and looked at him expectantly.

When Jace continued to stare blankly back at her, she huffed in frustration, "How have you not seen Rocky Horror Picture Show?"

"So it's from a movie," Jace guessed, his fingers continuing their drumming against the mug in time to the music.

Clary laughed and playfully swatted his arm, leaning back again to Jace's relief and disappointment. "Yes, it's from a movie. No Halloween is complete without doing the Time Warp at least once!"

Jace looked around, noticing a few strategically placed pumpkins and a ghost figurine with its stretched-out arms holding a wine bottle and "I'm here for the BOOS" printed across its stomach and realized that they were indeed a week away from Halloween. He raised an eyebrow at Clary, "I can't say I've ever noticed anything missing from my Halloweens the past twenty-five years."

Clary shook her head, a serious look now in place on her face, "That's because you don't know what you're missing. It's okay, we can fix this.," she nodded seemingly agreeing with herself. She placed her coffee on a random magazine as she got up, heading toward the entertainment stand full of DVDs that didn't seem to be stacked in any particular order and dug through them until she stood up triumphantly waving a DVD with big red lips above her head. "Got it!"

"Uhm, Clary," Jace tried, but she now seemed caught up in a search for the remote that he was pretty sure he saw wedged in between the cushion and back of the arm chair to the right of the sofa.

"No, it's okay, Jace. You've spent a long time being horribly, horribly deprived, but I'm here to help," she continued as she finally lifted up the chair cushion and procured the TV remote.

"Clary," Jace tried again. She paused then, looking over at him. He couldn't help the smirk that crept over his face. "We might have better luck watching a movie when the power is restored."

He watched as she then glanced around the dim, candle-lit apartment, her cheeks flushing a pretty pink. She grinned sheepishly at him, "Oh, right," and she dropped the DVD and remote onto the coffee table with a huff, before making her way back to her spot on the couch.

The next couple of hours passed pleasantly, both Clary and Jace talking about past Halloweens and traditions. Well, traditions on Clary's end. Jace didn't really have any since growing out of trick-or-treating. He never really saw the point of the holiday as an adult, but Clary's enthusiasm was contagious and before he knew it he was agreeing to a Halloween movie marathon with her before reluctantly heading back to his own apartment, his exhaustion from the day finally catching up with him.

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 **A/N: Good morning! So this fic will be updating on Sundays going forward, BUT if you leave a review, I'll PM you a preview during the week!**

 **Thank you to the lovely ShadowHunter303 for being my beta and looking over this chapter!**

 **Special thanks to all the guest reviewers - make an account if you are reading this so that I can send you previews! ;)**


	4. Witchy Woman

Two days later, Jace was showing last night's dalliance out to the hallway at the same time that the mousey-looking boy who helped Clary move in, was knocking on her door. The boy pushed his glasses up his nose and openly gaped at the gorgeous brunette now making her way down the stairs. "How…" he trailed off. Jace simply smirked, crossing his arms and leaning against his doorway.

Jace straightened up quickly when Clary opened her door, and she glanced from the girl rounding the landing below and back to her drooling friend. After a minute, when he still hadn't torn his gaze from the brunette's direction - even though you couldn't see her anymore - Clary pointedly cleared her throat. "Good morning, Simon. Jace," she nodded in his direction.

"Good morning, Neighbor," Jace greeted cheekily.

Simon finally seemed to snap out of his daze and rushed forward to embrace Clary, though the hug lasted a bit longer than Jace thought was necessary. "Sorry, morning Clary," he mumbled as they broke apart.

Clary turned back toward Jace, and as he took in her tight, black leggings, tie dye shirt, and messy ponytail, he couldn't help but think that Simon was an idiot for directing his gaze elsewhere. There was a sort of easy, natural beauty about her, that was hard to find amongst the high-fashion model-types of the city. Maybe it wasn't the "look" magazines went for, but something about her was the kind of pretty that was just mesmerizing, and had a warmth that felt a lot like home. Unfortunately, he spent a little too much time admiring said beauty, and not enough time listening, as she was now staring at him with her eyebrows raised, an expectant look on her face.

"Sorry, what," he asked, scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

He almost thought he saw her looking at the bicep of his raised arm for a moment, but he blinked and she was just smiling warmly at him, shaking her head, so he figured he must of imagined it. "I was just asking if you wanted to cash in that rain check for breakfast? Though we're dining in this time."

Jace gave her a teasing grin and looked her up and down suggestively, "That depends. What's on the menu?"

Clary pretended to think this over, bringing her hand to her chin and furrowing her brow. "Hmm, well, I was going to offer French toast, bacon, and coffee," she trailed off momentarily before smiling sweetly up at him," but if you're concerned that it might not be up to your standards, I could always go consult Mrs. Tripler. You know, see if she has any other recipes for me to try?"

Jace put his hands out in supplication, "French toast and bacon sounds GREAT! Perfect, really." Clary laughed and gestured him and Simon into her apartment. Jace followed, muttering under his breath about evil women, and something about a permanently bruised shin.

Fifteen minutes later, they were all gathered around Clary's small kitchen table and the silence probably should have felt at least a little awkward, but Jace couldn't bring himself to care. He was too busy restraining himself from actually moaning aloud, as he took another syrupy bite of the French toast. Jace couldn't remember the last time he sat down and ate a real breakfast, as opposed to grabbing a coffee and some jerky on his way out the door to the station, but he didn't remember French toast being this good. He vaguely registered a soft ding and Clary getting up from the table to get something out of the oven, but his mouth dropped open, a bit of syrup dribbling down to his chin when the smell of freshly cooked bacon wafted over to him. Simon scoffed at him. "The way you're drooling, you would think you've never had breakfast before," he said, giving Jace a condescending look.

Jace quickly wiped his mouth, but raised an eyebrow and pointedly stared at the large syrup stain on his gamer t-shirt, until it registered with Simon, and he flushed red and returned to stabbing at his breakfast while staring angrily at his plate. At this, Jace leaned back in his chair, smirking over his cup of coffee. "The way you were drooling at what I usually have in the mornings indicates that we have different routines."

Simon choked a bit on his food and hastily reached for his coffee, trying to soothe his throat. Clary was setting down the bacon on the table, but slapped Jace's hand away as he reached for it. "Play nice," she admonished.

Jace quickly snatched a piece before she could slap his hand away again. "I think you like it better when I don't," he teased.

"Jace," she warned.

"No Clary, it's okay," Simon chimed in, greedily scooping up half of the bacon causing Jace to glare at him. "Really, I'm just impressed that girls will actually walk up five flights of stairs to hook up with such a giant ass."

"You're right that I'm rather impressive, but I think you'll find that's not the body part that they refer to as giant," Jace retorted.

Clary let out what sounded like a short yelp before hiding her face in her napkin, and Jace knew his smile was smug, but couldn't bring himself to care as he watched her shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

* * *

That Tuesday, Jace was back at Clary's to start the movie marathon she had promised him the night of the blackout. Luckily, he wasn't on call this Halloween, so he had the entire day to relax, or in this case get an education (a "Hallocation," as Clary called it) in Halloween movies. He didn't think it was strictly necessary, but he really didn't have anything else to do, and he knew from the three years that he had lived in this building that there would be no trick-or-treaters to worry about. Apparently, kids didn't want to walk up 5 flights of stairs for their candy. Jace didn't blame them and honestly thought it was part of the appeal of his apartment.

According to Clary, Simon would be joining them later that night when he was done with his classes. Jace asked Clary if she had any classes that day, remembering the NYU t-shirt she had been wearing when she moved in. A weird look he couldn't decipher crossed her face, but then she just shook her head and went back to trying to decide which movies they would need to see. If she had her way, they would have started the movie marathon with breakfast, but despite the pleasantness of last Thursday, Jace insisted that any day off where he was up before 10:30am was a waste of a day off. After arguing the point for a few minutes, she finally seemed to realize that Jace was not going to prioritize Halloween movies over sleep and agreed to start at noon. Though she did threaten, since they were starting "so late" and he would have no excuse with living next door, that if he was even a minute late, she wouldn't share any of the snacks with him. Jace rolled his eyes at that, but found himself knocking at her door at 11:55am. Clary could eat a surprising amount for her size after all.

Clary opened the door almost immediately, but then paused and seemed to scrutinize his appearance. "That's what you're wearing for a movie marathon?"

Jace glanced down at his jeans, sneakers, and fitted black t-shirt. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Jace, we're going to be watching movies all day. Don't you want to be comfortable?" Jace glanced at her, registering that she was wearing flannel pajamas and those fluffy slipper socks again, with her hair piled on top of her head, a large clip just barely holding her thick mane of curls in place. "Go change." He nodded slowly. "You have 4 minutes before I keep all the snacks for myself, Herondale!"

"That threat's getting stale," he retorted, but he was already opening his apartment door. Exactly 3 minutes and 40 seconds later, he was back at Clary's apartment and she smiled approvingly at his sweatpants, loose t-shirt, and wool socks. In the interest of making his deadline, he didn't bother with shoes again for the 6 foot walk in the hall. Jace was pretty sure that wasn't too gross considering Clary and he were the only apartments on the 5th floor, but then again he couldn't remember the last time that the hall carpet had been vacuumed, and he really didn't want to think about this too much.

This time Jace moved into the apartment a bit more confidently, automatically heading toward the small olive-colored sofa where he could see the throw blanket already spread out and a bowl of popcorn on the now clean coffee table. He saw a pile of dvds there as well, staring at the one on top with the big, red lips that he remembered from the night of the storm. Clary ambled in a moment later, 2 beers in hand as well as what looked to be a giant bag full of candy in her other hand. Jace moved to take the beers from her and quickly set them on coasters while she unceremoniously dumped the candies out on the table. "And here I thought you were kidding about the snacks."

Clary smiled and grabbed the remote, having apparently already loaded the first DVD before Jace arrived. "I don't kid about snacks, Jace. This is only round one." Jace hummed appreciatively, eyeing the candy, but ultimately grabbing the large bowl of popcorn, settling it between them on the couch as the opening credits began to play. At first Jace struggled to focus on the movie playing in front of them. He was trying really hard not be awkward about the popcorn, after having touched Clary's hand a couple of times reaching for some, but it seemed that they just kept reaching in there at the same time. He didn't remember ever caring this much about brushing against someone's hand or eating popcorn being this complicated.

The awkwardness quickly faded away as the movie captured his full attention, his jaw dropping at the debut of a very flamboyant Dr. Frank N. Furter. He sat through the rest of the movie, fully enraptured, but with his mouth hanging dumbly open. It wasn't until the narrator was concluding the movie, relating the human race to insects, that he finally he spoke. "What. Was. That." His words came out very slowly, and he didn't understand how Clary could look so joyful after watching that trainwreck of a movie.

"A cult classic," Clary replied as if the answer was obvious.

"That was the strangest thing I have ever seen, film or otherwise," Jace said, impressed with his ability to string together a coherent sentence after having watched something that was probably going scar him for life.

"You're welcome," Clary said simply, reaching for the next two DVDs on top of the pile. "Ghost Busters or Hocus Pocus next?"

"Ghost Busters," Jace said quickly, since he at least had a vague idea of what that movie was about. Clary nodded and then got up, stretching, before walking over to put the next movie in. Jace quickly averted his eyes from the pale slip of skin showing as her sweatshirt rode up a bit when she bent over at the DVD player, knowing that thoughts like that about his neighbor couldn't lead to anything good. He cleared his throat and stood quickly, grabbing the two empty beer bottles. "I don't know about you, but after that I could definitely use another drink."

"Sure. There's plenty more in the fridge, just help yourself," Clary agreed without looking up from her task. When Jace returned a minute later, two fresh beers in hand, Clary was already settled back on the couch and the now empty popcorn bowl had been replaced with a large bag of M&Ms.

About halfway through the 4th movie, Jace noticed that his right side was really warm. He was about to shrug the blanket off until his hazy mind finally registered that the source of the warmth was actually the petite redhead burrowed into his side, her head pillowed on his bicep. He wasn't sure when she had moved close enough to cuddle and fall asleep on him, but he found that suddenly he didn't mind the temperature quite so much, and so he went back to watching the movie, drifting in and out of a light sleep himself. He wasn't sure how long they stayed like that, but Clary didn't stir until someone was knocking at the door and the credits were rolling on the TV screen.

When Clary rose from the couch and opened the door to reveal a disheveled Simon coming to join their marathon, Jace's right side felt distinctly cold and he was sure he had never resented anyone quite so much.

* * *

 **A/N: Merry Christmas Eve/Christmas to all who celebrate! Sorry for this chapter going up at a later hour this week, unfortunately family time delayed me a bit.**

 **Thank you so much for all of your lovely reviews. If I didn't respond to anyone, it's either because you reviewed as a guest/not logged in or because you have you PMs turned off, but I appreciate all of the responses you left!**

 **Just a reminder - if you leave a review, I'll send a preview of the next chapter to tide you over until next Sunday! (We're finally getting a bit more into the plot next week too! I can't wait!) :)**


	5. Alice's Restaurant

**A/N: Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks again to ShadowHunter303 for being a fantastic beta and putting up with my sporadic writing schedule. If you haven't already check out her stories - I highly recommend them! :) She's super talented**

 _ **Disclaimer: I only remember this every other chapter, it seems, but I do not own the characters from TMI or any pop culture references made within this story.**_

* * *

A couple of days later, Jace was coming home from a short shift at the station when he ran into Clary again. She was struggling to carry several bags of groceries up the stairs, so before she could protest - and he knew she would certainly protest that she was fine - he scooped a few bags out of her arms.. He was pleased that she only let out one, short indignant squawk before she walked in tandem with him up to her apartment. He outright grinned when she begrudgingly handed him yet another bag, enabling her to dig out her keys and open the apartment door.

Jace dutifully followed her into the kitchen, after kicking the door shut behind him. He placed the bags on the gray quartz countertop, standing next to her and wondering if he should just go, before she finally glanced over at him again, a warm smile in place, and asked him to grab the fridge door for her. As she started to unload the groceries, handing the refrigerated items to him respectively, he noticed that this was an obscene amount of food - even for Clary's appetite.

"Feeding a small army?" he questioned, as he placed a second can of whipped cream in the fridge door.

At this, Clary paused unloading the bags and smacked her head, squinting her eyes closed in a way that reminded Jace of a child being reprimanded for forgetting to put their toys away before bedtime. "I knew I forgot to tell someone!"

Jace raised an eyebrow, resting an arm on the still-open fridge door. "That you're starting a soup kitchen?"

Clary tossed a bag of frozen peas at his head, which he smoothly caught and dropped into the freezer, a cocky smirk in place. Though he was pretty sure that Clary was impressed with his reflexes (he would be), she didn't let it show as she shook her head and rolled her eyes at him. "Friendsgiving. This Saturday, 2:00 pm," she grabbed two boxes of stuffing, "You're invited, obviously."

"Obviously," Jace echoed, his smirk turning into a full grin. Though a minute later, "Wait, I can't."

"Work?" Clary questioned with a frown on her face that he was overly pleased to see.

"My sister is supposed to be visiting me this weekend. She's been traveling a lot for work and I haven't seen her in a while," Jace lamented.

Clary handed him a container of ice cream, pushing a stray curl out of her face. "That's an easy fix. Bring her!"

Jace closed the freezer and fridge doors, turning to face Clary fully. "You barely know me. You really want to start inviting my family members to your gatherings?"

Clary stuffed her hands into her jean pockets and Jace's gaze followed the motion, noticing that this was the first time he had seen her in anything other than leggings or sweatpants, and honestly her legs still looked good. Maybe too good; he quickly snapped his eyes back up to meet hers. "You haven't murdered me and dumped my body in the building dumpster yet," she shrugged. "Besides, I want to meet the woman who managed to put up with Jace Herondale growing up."

* * *

When Saturday rolled around, Jace found himself back at Clary's, though this time his presence was planned. He was an hour early for her "Friendsgiving" gathering, as he had somehow volunteered to assist in preparations, despite the fact that he really couldn't cook much more than eggs. Luckily, Clary seemed to have a handle on the meal staples, so Jace was relegated to moving the small couch closer to the TV, allowing him room to then set up the long table and folding chairs that she had pulled out for the occasion. "How many people are coming to this?" Jace questioned, eyeing the remaining chairs to be placed dubiously.

Clary didn't look up from her task of peeling potatoes, "Including us?" She tried to shake a piece of hair out of her face that had freed itself from the large clip on her head, "I think there's only 7."

Jace sighed in relief, putting out one more chair at the head of the table, before happily moving the rest back to the closet. "What's next?"

Clary deposited the last of the potato skins into the rubbish bin and then wiped her hands on her apron as she turned to look around the apartment. "Table clothes," she nodded to herself, moving toward where Jace was still standing in front of the open hall closet. "I think," she said, moving directly in front of him to get a closer look at the shelving, "I think, that they're maybe up on this shelf." Clary rose on her tiptoes, arm reaching high to the top shelf, but even so her fingertips barely brushed the edge of it. Jace, who could actually see said tablecloths, stepped closer to her, his body nearly pressed against hers. He reached up and around her to grab a burnt orange, frilly cloth.

"I think I've got it," he said lowly into her ear, startling her so she spun around to look at him, losing her balance at the sudden movement. Clary rocked back on her heels for a moment before he reached out his other arm, snagging her around the waist to steady her. Jace felt it on his collarbone as Clary let out a sharp exhale, her lips parting slightly, and he couldn't help it when his gaze flickered down to her mouth. He looked up to her wide, green eyes, and back down to her lips once more. Before Jace put any thought into his actions, he was leaning in toward her, enjoying the sight of her dark auburn lashes against her pale skin as her eyes fluttered closed. When he was a hair's breadth away, they both jumped back at a loud sizzling sound. He turned back toward the kitchen, and then Clary was hurrying over to where the pot of water for the potatoes was boiling over. She quickly removed the lid from the pot, allowing some of the excess heat to escape, and toweled up the mess before neatly dropping the potatoes into the water.

Jace stood frozen during this, his heart beating rapidly and his arm hanging dumbly in the air, as though still holding her. He blinked once, twice. "There should be some navy blue napkins in there to match that tablecloth," she called over, not turning to look at him.

He turned back to the closet, quickly spotting the napkins she mentioned, though his movements felt robotic as he grabbed them. "Got them," he called back as he shut the closet door and went about setting the table accordingly.

* * *

By 1:50 pm, everything seemed to be just about done. The turkey had been removed from the oven, the table fully set, and additional decorations put out by Jace, according to Clary's instructions. Clary poured the gravy into its boat and once she carried it out to the table, she looked around, a pleased expression on her face.

Jace had been worried that things were going to be become awkward between them after that...whatever that was earlier. Much to his relief, shortly after the incident, Clary had asked Jace to turn on her iPOD to "Alice's Restaurant" and Jace, recognizing her choice in music this time, smoothly fell into a discussion with her about the tune. His mom used to play it every year on repeat while preparing the meal, and Jace was surprised to find himself sharing the memory with Clary, a fond smile on his face as he reminisced. He hadn't heard the song in a long time and his smile grew when Clary moved over to the iPOD to place it on repeat.

Clary walked back to the kitchen and having deemed everything "ready", she removed her apron, revealing the entirety of the tight, black sweater dress she was wearing. Jace admired the way it hugged her gentle curves, making her look soft and warm in all the ways you want during the holidays. His breath caught a moment when she removed the large clip from her hair, shaking out the curls around her shoulders. This was the first time Jace had seen her curls free, and they were prettier than he could have imagined. The black of her dress set off the vibrant, red color of them; the silky-looking locks resembling flames tumbling down to her waist. His eyes continued their path downward, and if he had thought her legs had looked good in leggings and jeans, he was blown away by the creamy white of them standing out in sharp contrast at the hem of her dress that fell to around mid-thigh. Jace finished the path downward slowly until his sight finally reached the the fuzzy, slipper socks she still opted to wear, and something about seeing those now-familiar socks made his stomach swirl in a pleasant, but strange manner.

Jace had probably been staring for longer than what was socially acceptable, and Clary shot him a questioning look, but he was saved any retribution when there was a knock at the door. Once again it was Simon, though Jace thought that he was almost grateful for his arrival this time. He watched as Clary greeted her friend with an enthusiastic hug. Nope, still not glad to see him. Shortly after, Jace was introduced to Simon's band-mate Eric, and then finally a pretty girl named Maia, and her boyfriend Jordan. Wine was poured and conversation was flowing when there was a final knock on the door. Jace followed Clary over as she went to open it, knowing who it would be.

Clary opened the door to Jace's sister. As usual, she was dressed to the nines in a tight, electric blue dress and tan high-heeled boots. Her straight, dark hair fell down in a sheek waterfall around her shoulders, and Jace watched the redhead's face carefully as she took in Isabelle Lightwood. He only saw a moment of surprise there, before Clary's usual warm smile spread over her face and she stuck out her hand in greeting. "Hello, I'm Clary. You must be Jace's sister?"

Isabelle didn't miss a beat, grabbing Clary's smaller hand in her own and flashing a thousand watt smile. "Isabelle Lightwood," she introduced herself.

"Lightwood?" Clary questioned, her brows furrowing, but the warm smile never faltering.

"Yes," Isabelle stated simply, with a perfunctory nod, before moving confidently into the apartment as if she came here frequently.

Clary glanced over at Jace, who only gave a small smile and shrug, before moving to hug his sister. "Good to see you, Iz."

"You too, big brother," Isabelle pulled away and glanced around. "Your girlfriend's place is cute," she continued, as though she was stating common knowledge, though the mischievous smile in place told Jace that she knew exactly what pot she was stirring.

"Isabelle, don't start," Jace warned with a glare. Clary turned a bright shade of red from head to toe, though he barely noticed as Simon choked on his wine, and Jace felt his own cheeks and neck warming slightly. It was a sensation that he had not felt in a long while, but it seemed no one was as adept at embarrassing someone as little sisters.

Fortunately, Maia had only snickered into her wine glass for a moment, before smoothing over Isabelle's awkward, inaccurate comment by continuing introductions. Everyone settled into dinner nicely, the conversation flowing seemingly effortlessly. Jace wasn't sure if it was Isabelle's bright personality, or the fact that Clary seemed to surround herself with kind, yet interesting people, but he never felt the awkwardness he had always associated with outsiders coming into an existing friend group.

Somehow the conversation shifted to the ridiculous topic of rompers for men - Jace was pretty sure this was Isabelle's doing, though Clary and Maia were chiming in enthusiastically - and he couldn't help the defeated groan that escaped him as he reached for the bottle of wine. Isabelle smiled wickedly, "What's wrong big brother? Afraid the station might order you one for this year's calendar?"

"Calendar?" Clary questioned. Jace watched as she exchanged a conspiratorial smile with his sister, and yeah, he was definitely going to regret introducing them. How did he forget how embarrassing little sisters could be?

Jace cleared his throat awkwardly, but Izzy answered for him. "Jace's fire station shoots a calendar every year that they sell for charity."

"You're a firefighter?" Jordan questioned, seeming to finally tune back into the conversation.

Jace straightened up in his chair, hoping to use Jordan's newfound participation to steer the conversation away from that dreaded calendar. "Rescue 5 for four years now," he confirmed.

"So you-" Jordan started, but was quickly cut off by Maia tapping his arm and shushing him as he shot a confused look at his girlfriend.

"We want to hear more about this calendar," Maia explained and Jace rolled his eyes, taking a large sip of wine as Clary nodded avidly in agreement.

Isabelle looked quite pleased with herself and Jace had to remind himself that if he throttled his sister, he would lose his job. Also, Maryse and Robert would probably never speak to him again. Alec might understand… "It's exactly what you're thinking," Isabelle continued happily. She swirled her wine glass through the air as she spoke and Jace continued to shoot daggers at her through his eyes. "Twelve months of hunky guys to ogle for a good cause. Last year, they made Jace dress up in this teeny, tiny-"

"Who wants dessert?" Jace stood abruptly, interrupting the rest of that horrifying sentence. Clary, though giggling, seemed to take pity on him and rose as well to begin to clear the table, and fortunately the subject was dropped.

Though a few minutes later, when Jace was standing back up from closing the dishwasher, Clary brushed by him, placing a hand momentarily on his lower back as she murmured, "At least I know what you can get me for Christmas this year." Jace felt his cheeks flush pink for a third time this evening - this was really a record for him - but he did make a mental note that he would need to add a certain petite redhead to his Christmas shopping list this year.

They were just beginning to dig into the pies, when there was a loud banging on Clary's door. Jace looked up confused. The racket rivaled the noise of Mrs. Tripler's unpleasant visits to his flat, but as far as he knew, Clary had miraculously remained on good terms with the old, witch.

Clary rose from the table in a hurry, a worried look on her face. She rushed over and opened the door, revealing a tall, blonde man, with a furious expression etched into his features.

The young man towered over with his fists clenched and Jace felt himself fisting his own hands under the table, bracing for a fight. He didn't like how the stranger seemed to dwarf his small neighbor, and he definitely didn't care for the hostile air he was exuding. Jace stood up, ready to help Clary throw whoever this guy was out on his butt, and just then he spoke, "Clarissa Morgenstern, you have a LOT of explaining to do."

* * *

 **A/N: So I honestly feel awful about leaving you all on a cliffhanger until next Sunday...it honestly wasn't my intention, but this chapter sort of took on a life of its own/didn't go as planned.**

 **If you leave a review, I will be sure to send you a preview that will make the cliffhanger not QUITE so bad!**

 **Thank you SO, SO much to all of the reviewers - especially the guest reviewers, since I can't message you! If you're able to make an account, please do! This way I can properly thank you AND send you previews in between chapter postings!**

 **PS: I can't believe this story is 1 short of 100 followers. It truly warms my heart that this many people would want to read this story. I hope you all know how much it means to me that you're coming along for this ride. :)**


	6. Wasted Words

**A/N: Here we are at yet another chapter! Sorry for last week's cliffhanger...though if you reviewed, you already know who was at the door. ;) If you've noticed...I've changed my username on here. It was taughttodream30, but is now HidingBehindMyWords. Sorry for any confusion!  
**

 **This chapter is named after Wasted Words by The Allman Brothers. I actually have a playlist based on the chapter names if anyone ever wants to know what song I listened to while writing and/or listen to the same song while reading. :)**

 _ **Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or any of the pop culture references made within this fanfictions.**_

* * *

 _Previously:_

 _They were just beginning to dig into the pies, when there was a loud banging on Clary's door. Jace looked up confused. The racket rivaled the noise of Mrs. Tripler's unpleasant visits to his flat, but as far as he knew, Clary had miraculously remained on good terms with the old witch._

 _Clary rose from the table in a hurry, a worried look on her face. She rushed over and opened the door, revealing a tall, blonde man, with a furious expression etched into his features._

 _The young man towered over her with his fists clenched and Jace felt himself fisting his own hands under the table, bracing for a fight. He didn't like how the stranger seemed to dwarf his small neighbor, and he definitely didn't care for the hostile air he was exuding. Jace stood up, ready to help Clary throw whoever this guy was out on his butt, and just then he spoke, "Clarissa Morgenstern, you have a LOT of explaining to do."_

* * *

Jace watched Clary's expression crumble to pieces; her eyes seemed to tear up for a moment, and he felt his whole body coil into a ball of tension, ready to brawl with this stranger, even if Clary did appear to know him. However, it looked as though that the blonde man was just as distressed as Jace by Clary being visibly upset, because before Jace could blink, he was pulling Clary into a tight hug, which she was eagerly returning.

Jace slowly sat back down. He wasn't sure why, but it felt like something dropped in his stomach and he felt this heavy, sinking feeling become heavier and heavier the longer that they embraced, so he tore his gaze away, looking around at his dinner companions. The only one who didn't look as confused as he felt was Simon, who seemed to be chewing his bottom lip nervously with fervor. "Why don't you sit down and have some pie with us, Jonny, and then we can talk," Clary offered.

Jace snapped his gaze back to Clary at this suggestion to find that she had broken the embrace, but she still had a hand placed on the man's bicep, and Jace had to look away again as he tried to swallow through the stifling thickness in his throat.

Apparently the man had agreed, because they were heading to the table, linked arm and arm. Jace had missed that part of the conversation as he was busy racking his memory for any time Clary might have mentioned a "Jonny" in all the times they talked.

This was when Simon's band mate decided to bail on whatever drama was unfolding before them, murmuring excuses about needing to tune his guitar before his next gig. Jace had actually forgotten that he was even there; the boy had been so quiet during dinner. Jordan stood up in succession, pulling Maia up with him, stating that he believed he might be blocking Eric in, and that they really should be going anyway.

Clary looked like she wanted to object, but with a quick hug to her from Maia, they were all out the door in a flurry of coats and scarves before she could even get the protests out. She turned back to the remainder of the group and cleared her throat awkwardly. "I hope that you're all planning to stay a bit longer?" She asked, her expression hopeful.

Jace shook his head; this pit in his stomach had thoroughly killed his appetite. "Sorry, Clary, but Iz and I should probab-"

Clary whipped her head to stare at him with such wide, pleading eyes, that Jace cut off mid-word before she even spoke, the sentence seemingly caught in his still too-thick throat. "Jace Herondale, don't you _dare_ make me responsible for eating all of this pie! There's no way I would be able to climb all of our stairs after that, so unless you plan on carrying me to and from the lobby for the foreseeable future, you will not leave," she finished, with her hands now indignantly placed on her hips. Jace felt his mouth start to quirk up into a lopsided smile at that imagery in spite of himself, but he still wasn't up for playing nice with her and her...friend. Clary seemed to sense that he was about to object again and continued before he could, "Besides, I was really looking forward to you getting to know my brother."

"Brother?" Jace's voice sounded a bit rough to his own ears, but he felt the knot in his stomach slowly start to unwind. He swallowed a couple of times, noticing that his throat had lost some of its tightness as well.

Clary nodded emphatically as her brother provided his hand for a handshake, though he was now eyeing Jace up and down warily. "Jonathan Morgenstern."

Jace tried to discreetly wipe his palm on his pants - it felt a bit clammy from the tight fist he had been holding since Jonathan had arrived - before meeting his in a firm handshake. "Hey, Jace Herondale, nice to meet you," he said casually, calmly meeting the narrowed green gaze that probably should have tipped him off sooner that this was Clary's brother. The rest of their features held no similarities at a glance, but Jace felt a bit remiss that he didn't make the familial connection sooner with how similar their eyes were. Jonathan broke the handshake as Clary gestured to Isabelle, quickly introducing her, and Jonathan said hello to Simon, who he apparently already knew, before he took a seat next to Clary. She began to help him to a serving of the large pumpkin pie that they had just doled out prior to his arrival.

Jon eyed the creamy orange filling and flaky crust with a rather excited expression. "Did you make this, Clare?" He questioned was he reached for the whipped cream, smothering his slice in the fluffy, white topping.

"Of course. It's Mom's recipe, Jonny," she smiled proudly at him, though it had a bit of a wistful quality to it.

Jon looked as though he was about to say something else on the matter, but was distracted as he had grabbed the bottle of wine and realized that he didn't have anything to pour it into. "Hey Clare, do you think I could get a glass?"

Clary looked up, mid-bite of her own pie. She set her fork down and made to get up, but Jace halted her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Relax, I've got it," he said, already making his way to where he had grabbed the other glasses from earlier that day when setting the table. When he came back over and handed Jon the glass, Jon mumbled his thanks, but then was back to eyeing Jace with the same scrutiny he had upon greeting him.

"How did you say you know my little sister?" Jon questioned, taking a long sip of wine from his glass, but not breaking the intense gaze he had focused on Jace.

Jace smiled easily. "I didn't say, actually." He paused to take a sip from his own wine, letting the beverage soothe his throat, finding that its earlier tightness had dissipated, the strain all but gone now. "We're neighbors. I have the flat next door that mirrors this this one."

Jon seemed to relax back in his chair a bit, but didn't let up on his staring. "Jace helped Simon and I with the couch the day that I moved in," Clary interjected. "He actually sort of saved Simon," she added with a bright smile.

Simon scowled at this. "I did not need saving! I was just taking a breather when he stepped in."

"A breather underneath the couch?" Jace asked, raising an eyebrow skeptically at him.

Simon flushed an angry red and Jonathan interjected again, "Now that sounds like the Lewis I know and barely tolerate." Clary scoffed, but shrugged lightly in a way that indicated she was accustomed to this behavior between the two. Jace pretended not to notice the comforting hand that Isabelle placed on Simon's arm during this exchange. Though he did make a mental note that a discussion would be had with his sister after the meal.

Simon stabbed at his pie as if he were picturing Jon's face. Or maybe his own, Jace pondered; the nerd had always been rather ungrateful to him for saving him that day. "See if I tell you where your sister is the next time you leave me 50 voicemails freaking out," Simon mumbled. Ah, so Jon it was, then, Jace thought, watching the fork scrape harshly against the brown-haired boy's plate.

"Wait, you did what?" Clary exclaimed, dropping her fork onto her own plate with a loud clatter. Her eyes landed on her friend in a gaze that practically seemed to spit flames; Jace was glad to not be on the receiving end.

Simon pulled nervously at his collar, returning to chewing on his lip once again. "He, uhm...Well, Jon was really worried. And uhm, he may have threatened to find me on campus. And, you know, I really can't afford to have any altercations on record for my scholarship, so-"

"So you sold me out," Clary interrupted Simon's rambling in a harsh voice, her eyes still narrowed in an unwavering glare. Jace wondered if Simon was going to pass out; the boy looked rather pale with a slight sheen of sweat breaking on his forehead.

"It sounds like he wouldn't have had to 'sell you out'," Isabelle piped up, using air quotes more dramatically than Jace thought the situation warranted, "if you weren't hiding from your brother," she finished, her demeanor calm, but icy. Jace watched Simon look at her in awe, and yes, he was definitely having a chat with his sister later about when to stay out of other people's business.

"Fair point," Jonathan chimed in, sending a suave smile her way that made Jace want to gag."Though really, Lewis, you took longer to crack than I expected," he added with a cocky tilt of his head.

"And you," Isabelle glanced over at Jonathan with disdain, causing the smug expression to drop from his face as Jace recovered his own. "Who do you think you are, putting someone's scholarship at risk like that?"

Jonathan's eyes widened momentarily in surprise before he regained his composure. "I'm a brother that had no idea where his little sister was, and would have done anything to find her and make sure she was okay," he replied quietly, but clearly, in a rather grave tone .

Isabelle seemed to consider this for a moment, and Jace was ready to quiet her himself if she continued, knowing he would have done the same if Izzy had gone missing. Though he couldn't help but wonder exactly _why_ Jonathan didn't know where Clary was when she seemed to give him a warm enough welcome into her home today. Jace was relieved when Isabelle concluded this an acceptable answer and flashed Jonathan a smile that had him looking a bit dazed. "Fair point," she conceded, echoing his earlier words.

Clary, who had released a shaky exhale at Jon's declaration, seemed to have calmed herself down throughout the exchange. "You're right, Isabelle. This isn't Simon's fault," she acknowledged. The redhead turned to fully face her brother. "I'm sorry I didn't call you, Jonny. The first couple of weeks I was so worried you would tell Dad where I went; I was afraid to call until you had time to cool down. Then time just sort of," she paused, biting her lip for a moment before continuing, "got away from me. I never meant to worry you." She spoke the last sentence softly, looking down at her hands clasped in her lap with a sad expression on her face. Jace couldn't help but feel they were all intruding on a private moment, meant to remain between siblings, as Jonathan covered both of her small hands with one of his large ones, but he couldn't exactly subtly leave at this point either.

"I know, Clare. It's okay. Just don't ever do that to me again, yeah?" Clary nodded her head, looking up at her brother with a small smile. "And don't think we aren't talking about you dropping out of school later." The smile dropped instantaneously, a scowl chasing it away, as Jon winked at her and turned back to his pie.

Clary turned back to her own, but seemed to notice the awkward silence that had engulfed the table after this exchange. She glanced around, her eyes connecting with Izzy's who had a conspiratorial smile on her face once more. "More wine?" The dark-haired girl suggested cheerfully.

Clary nodded, her own smile returning once more. "I think we're going to be great friends, Izzy," she enthused as she eagerly grabbed two more bottles of wine for the table.

Several hours - and bottles - later, the atmosphere had not only lightened up, but had turned fully jovial, and Jace was feeling a bit fuzzy around the edges. They all seemed to be, actually, and before he knew it, Clary was declaring that Jon and Simon were staying with her, and Jace agreed that Isabelle should stay the night at his place. Of course this lead to a tipsy Isabelle and Clary hugging, the latter insisting that Izzy would be staying at her apartment, because they obviously needed to cement their new friendship with a proper sleepover. Jonathan then asserted that he would _not_ being sharing Clary's couch with Lewis, and began to clumsily search for his keys. Jace offered up his own couch to him, after a pointed look and a swift kick to the shin from his own darling sister.

They all bid each other good night, though Jace did so a bit reluctantly when he saw the way Simon was staring at the pair of giggling girls in adoration. After Jonathan whacked the brown-haired boy on the top of his head, sending Simon a stern warning look as he prepared to leave, Jace felt a bit more satisfied and he led the way as he and Clary's brother stumbled the few feet over to his own apartment for the night.

* * *

 **A/N:** **Special thanks to the wonderful RumpelstiltskinWantsMySanity for looking this chapter over last night, so that I could get it posted for all of you today!  
**

 **If anyone wants to chat about TMI, this fic, or the Shadowhunters TV cast - find me on Twitter: dancingcatlady1 (I also tweet when I do confusing things like change my fanfic username without warning anyone lol).**

 **Remember: If you leave a review, not only will I be eternally grateful, but you'll get a PREVIEW before next Sunday's chapter is posted! :)**


	7. The Artist

**A/N: Happy Sunday everyone! Are we all used to my new username yet? I don't think I've fully adjusted just yet lol.  
**

 **I had the absolute worst time writing this chapter, so extra special thanks to ShadowHunter303 for being an absolute ROCK STAR and editing this chapter within 30 minutes of me sending it to her tonight. If you haven't checked out her stories yet - do it! She's an amazing writer and I'm so lucky to have her as my beta!  
**

 **This chapter's song is The Artist by The Hush Sound**

* * *

Jace woke the next morning, sprawled across his bed in the same jeans from last night. His button down shirt was crumpled on the floor near the closet; he had aimed for the laundry basket, but his accuracy had not been quite on par in his tipsy state. With the incessant pounding in his head, he quickly determined that the sunlight streaming through the cracks in the blinds was not his friend; Jace had known that last bottle of wine they opened up was a mistake as he was drinking it. He sat up, groggily rubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands, before squinting against the morning light once more; he really needed to get blackout curtains for his bedroom.

He stumbled his way to the bathroom, ignoring the heap of blankets and snoring male under them on his couch. Jace felt a bit more functional after having a shower. However, he did probably stand there, in a sort of trance, running the towel over his blonde locks for longer than necessary - judging from the staticy way they began to fan out around his head.

A few minutes later, Jace had managed to shuffle over to his kitchen on a quest for caffeine, where he found Clary's brother awake and apparently in the same mindset, as he was attempting to use Jace's Keurig. 'Attempting' being the key word. He watched as Jonathan bent over the machine, mumbling curses under his breath with his pale, blonde hair sticking out every which way. Jon banged the side harshly, prompting the Keurig to make a loud, indignant whirring sound before spitting out some sludgy looking… coffee? Jace didn't think he could really call that coffee. Whatever it was, the substance oozed into the mug, making an unappetizing splattering sound as it landed.

Jace grimaced, approaching the foul-smelling liquid cautiously, while Jonathan just stood there staring at the mug as if he could will it into containing actual coffee instead of whatever gunk it was that he had created. "The machine is fully automated. How did you even do that?" Jace questioned with a horrified look on his face.

Jonathan turned to him, glaring. "Whatever, let's just go to my sister's for coffee," he replied snippily, already heading for the door to the apartment without bothering to see if Jace was following.

Jace took one last woeful look at the blinking lights on his coffee maker and the sludge gurgling in the mug, before just unplugging the machine and hurriedly toeing on his sneakers. He followed quickly after the other man as he called out to him, "I think you owe me a new Keurig!" When he caught up to Jon, who pointedly ignored Jace's comment, a tired, but rather happy looking Clary, clad in yoga pants and a sweatshirt that looked too large to be hers, was already opening up the door to her apartment.

"Good morning," she greeted cheerfully as Jonathan shouldered his way past her toward the kitchen, muttering about volume levels. "There's coffee already made!" She called after her brother, then turned to Jace with a bright smile.

Jace stared at the redhead's cheerful expression in awe for a moment, before he managed to will his mouth to form words again. "How?" He stopped and shook his head before trying again to get the sentence out, "How are you so….functional right now?" Clary sympathetically patted his arm before leading him to the kitchen and pouring him a large cup of coffee. Right, he had wanted coffee. At least it wasn't as bright in here. He took a large gulp of the beverage. And then had to resist the urge to spit out the hot, bitter drink. Clary tsked and whisked the coffee back out of his hands, adding his customary cream and sugar before handing the mug back to him. Jace was back to gaping. "How?" He repeated in a mumble, shaking his head slightly, and then immediately regretting the motion as the pounding seemed to intensify with it.

"Because she's 21," Jonathan, who seemed to be rejoining the land of the living as he poured himself a second cup of coffee, answered with an eye roll. "I never got hangovers at that age either," he added bitterly, though he tempered it with a quick smile and wink at his sister.

Jace just nodded along dumbly, his tired mind collecting this piece of information for later. He needed more coffee before he could begin to puzzle out Clary Fray. Or was it really Clary Morgenstern? He definitely needed more coffee first.

During this exchange, Clary busied herself with popping some bread in the toaster and then began to fry up some sausage links in a pan. Jace's stomach turned over and he wasn't sure if it was in anticipation or dread for the food. "Where's Simon and Isabelle?" Jonathan questioned, already draining his second cup of coffee. Why hadn't Jace thought of that? He really should have noticed his sister was missing.

Clary looked up from turning over the sausages in the pan, "Isabelle said she had an early sales meeting." The redhead glanced in Jace's direction, "She said she texted you about meeting up for lunch, Jace." Jace patted his pockets, but came up empty.

He shrugged, "My phone was probably on silent. I think it's still on my nightstand." He briefly wondered when Isabelle had turned into such a workaholic, but he supposed he knew the answer to that question. His sister had never really got over Robert and Maryse's split.

"And Simon?" Jon inquired with a raised eyebrow, slightly exasperated at having to repeat himself.

"Oh, right!" Clary nodded and grabbed a plate. Jace watched as she shut off the burner, but allowed the sausages to sizzle in the pan for a bit longer. "He shared a cab with Izzy. He said he had homework to do," she continued, leaning back on the counter for a moment. Jace took a long sip of his coffee in an effort to remain calm. He was definitely having a chat with his sister at their lunch today.

Clary plated the sausages and toast and dropped them at the long table that was still set up in the living room. Jace refilled his coffee and grabbed the butter from the fridge, his head finally becoming a bit clearer. He sat down across from Jonathan and eyed the food warily. When Clary left and came back with two glasses of orange juice and aspirin for both boys, he was pretty sure he saw an actual halo around her head.

After downing the painkillers, Jace wasn't sure how long he sat there sort of zoned out, but after what was probably a few minutes, he became aware of Clary pushing a plate with a lightly buttered piece of toast under his nose. He looked up at her. "You'll feel better once you have something in your stomach to soak everything up," she insisted. Jace gave the toast one more distrustful glance before taking a small bite. Clary beamed and he gave in, eating the remainder of the slice.

Jonathan didn't appear to have the same caution when it came to the food, having devoured all of the sausage links and the rest of the toast. "Feeling better already?" Jace questioned with a raised eyebrow.

Jon flashed him a smirk and lifted his mug in the air. "The wonders of coffee," he happily declared.

Jace took another sip of his own coffee, the events of the morning finally started to register in his now less hazy mind, and the appropriate emotions began to follow. "Wait. Speaking of coffee, what the hell did you do to my Keurig?" Jace questioned, giving the other blonde a sharp look.

Jonathan froze with his napkin at his mouth, before setting it down slowly. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about," he replied evenly, though he wouldn't meet Jace's eyes.

"I'm talking about how you owe me a new coffee maker," Jace asserted. There was no way he was making it through the work week without caffeine in the morning.

Jonathan smiled nervously, "Look at the time. Well, thanks for breakfast, but I have to get home, Sis." He stood, brushing crumbs off his pants, while Jace scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Clary came around the table to hug her brother. "Thanks for coming," she pulled back and looked up at him, "I missed you, Jonny."

Jonathan smiled and ruffled her hair affectionately while they walked to the door. "I missed you too, Sis," As he was exiting, he turned back to face her again, "But don't think this means we're not having that talk about school. We WILL talk about this, Clarissa" He pecked a kiss to the top of her head, but Clary scowled and pushed him out the door, quickly shutting it behind him.

Jace watched as Clary turned around, leaning against the door and breathing out a heavy sigh. Her eyes were closed and her brow furrowed, creating this crease that Jace had the strangest urge to try to smooth with his fingertips. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.

Clary jumped slightly, her eyes springing open to focus on him, and Jace wondered for a moment if he should have also taken his leave, as she appeared to temporarily have forgotten he was there. He quickly decided that staying was the right decision when she moved to sit next to him, resting her head on his shoulder and closing her eyes. He waited for her to decide and tried to focus on keeping his breathing even, enjoying the weight of her head lying on him, and the faint smell of strawberries that he picked up when he turned his face toward her hair.

"I just don't," she began, but faltered. Jace wrapped an arm around her shoulders at the slight shake in her voice, hoping to convey that she didn't have to talk about any of this. Strangely enough, he wanted to know everything about his neighbor, but was content in knowing nothing if it meant her not sounding so stressed and vulnerable.

Clary relaxed into him a bit, and he thought maybe that would be it for this conversation. She surprised him when, after another steadying breath, she carried on, "I was enrolled at NYU for the past 2 years for business."

Jace's fingers traced meaningless patterns into her arm as he simply nodded in acknowledgement, knowing she would feel the action with how closely they were pressed together. The position probably should have felt awkward, sitting in cheap folding chairs, angled toward each other, his knees knocking the top of the table slightly, but there was something natural about the oddity of it.

Clary cleared her throat slightly, continuing, "I was supposed to start my third year this past August, interning at my dad's office for extra course credits, but something about that internship just made it feel more," she paused, considering her next words. "The internship made it real." Jace wrapped his arm just a little tighter around her, as her words began tumbling out more quickly. It was as if she was trying to get them out before they consumed her, "Committing to this career, to this life course that I knew wasn't what I wanted suddenly seemed real and completely terrible. It had never been my dream, but that was the first time that I felt this abhorrence for it." Clary drew in another shaky breath and pulled away just slightly to open her eyes and look up at him, her eyes wide and honest, "I tried to tell my dad the week before it started that I couldn't go through with it. That the thought of it was making me physically ill," she shook her head and then looked away, letting out a short, bitter laugh that was nothing like the musical giggle Jace had come to look forward to over the past few months. "He didn't believe me. Or just didn't care. Told me that I was being ridiculous and that as long as I lived under his roof, I would follow his rules. Cliche, right?" Jace didn't answer, waiting for her to finish.

When her eyes met his once more, they had a slight sheen to them, but her voice was steady. "I couldn't just 'suck it up' for him. Couldn't live with my stomach feeling permanently knotted, like every fiber in my being was fighting this, begging me not to go through with it. So," she said, "I found this apartment before the semester started and well, here we are." Jace watched her shrug and then her shoulders sagged slightly, as if letting all this out had actually physically drained some of her strength.

Not letting himself overthink the action, his hand that wasn't on her arm reached over and to the her hand that was in a fist on the table, her nails digging into the palm. Jace gently uncurled her fingers, lacing his own through them. "And how do you feel now?" He questioned, his eyes searching hers.

Jace supposed that was the correct response since her mouth stretch into a small, genuine smile, "Free," she stated simply. Jace nodded in approval and she rested her head on his shoulder once more. Both of them ignoring their coffees and just contented to be for a little while.

* * *

 **A/N: We've finally found out a bit more about Clary! What do you think of her background so far? Any guesses as to where Jocelyn falls in all this?  
**

 **Please remember to leave a review if you have a moment! I'm so thankful for all the lovely comments I've received thus far & they're honestly what made me push through the writers block and get this to you on time.**

 **As always, if you leave a review, I'll send over a preview during the week to tide you over until next Sunday! :)**


	8. Eyelash Wishes

**A/N: Happy Sunday, Lovelies! I'm happy to say this chapter flowed out of me much easier! Thanks once again to ShadowHunter303 for being such an obliging beta!**

 **I'm sure you would all rather read the story than this note, so please check out the author's note at the bottom for me! :)  
This chapter's song is Eyelash Wishes by The All American Rejects  
**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own TMI/any of the characters or any pop culture references made within in this fanfiction.  
_

* * *

Jace met up with his sister downtown for lunch that afternoon, a bit miffed that she had insisted upon a bougie place across town when he had a shift at the station tonight. He fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat, drumming his fingers against his thighs, when the waiter came over with the crumb scraper; Isabelle didn't even bat an eye, checking her hair in her compact. She had grown up in this sort of extravagant environment. Jace supposed he had too, having lived with the Lightwoods since he was 10, but he never really seemed to become accustomed to it.

She snapped the mirror shut, placing it back in her purse when the waiter brought over their cappuccinos. Her dark eyes focused on Jace once more. Jace had let his sister steer the conversation over the course of their meal. Isabelle had told him a bit about how her job was going, and Jace tried to listen since he knew the family business was important to her, but pharmaceutical sales were about as interesting to him as trying to watch grass grow, and he really wanted to know just what went on during her little sleepover at Clary's place. "You left early this morning," he commented, trying for a smooth transition.

Elegantly pushing her long, dark hair over her shoulder, Isabelle raised one manicured brow at him, indicating that perhaps Jace was more transparent than he would like to think. "I told you, I had an early sales call," she said with a delicate shrug.

Jace nodded and took a sip of his cappuccino, "Right. And how was your cab ride?" He tried for a light tone, but they both knew what he was asking.

"Short," Isabelle feigned a nonchalance, but he spotted a warmth creeping into her cheeks that wasn't there a moment ago.

"I heard you had company for it," Jace tried again, undeterred.

His sister pursed her lips and nodded her head slowly. "I did," she confirmed shortly.

Jace determined that she clearly wasn't going to give anything up through this indirect line of questioning and decided to jump straight to the point, "What's going on with you and the nerd?"

Isabelle had spent many years perfecting her poker face. She was almost as good at shielding her emotions as Jace. Only almost, though, as Jace picked up on the slight widening of her eyes before she responded, "Nothing." It was Jace's turn to raise a disbelieving brow at his sister before she continued, "I'm 23, I think you can retire the overprotective big brother act. Besides what's up with you and Clary?"

Jace knew his face wouldn't give away the way his pulse picked up at Izzy's question, but he hoped she failed to notice his fingers momentarily pausing in their drumming against his thigh. "We're friends," he answered simply, though the words felt heavy on his tongue, the label not quite fitting whatever it was that was going on between them, and the words came out in a slightly uncertain tone.

Isabelle seemed to pick up on this and grinned a Cheshire cat smile, "You sure about that, big brother?" She asked as she leaned toward him, elbows resting on the table, eyes searching his face. Jace rolled his eyes at her, unwilling to respond. He didn't have to defend himself. Lots of people hung out with their neighbors, he was sure of it. He was less sure that those people's minds drifted back to the way their hands seemed to fit together so well, despite the difference in size, or the way it felt nice to keep their arm around their neighbor's shoulder, but Isabelle didn't need to know that.

Izzy seemed to give up on getting a response out of him, leaning back in her seat once more. Jace, satisfied with this, broke their gaze and tried to take the checkbook from the waiter, but Isabelle waved him off, handing the server her company card before he could pay. Her smile was still in place and Jace wasn't sure why he felt like she was laughing at him until, "Well, in case your 'friend' didn't mention it, since she's not on the best terms with her family, I invited her to Thanksgiving at our place."

This time Jace knew he had been caught, his eyes widening of their own accord at this revelation. Looks like Clary would be meeting the rest of the family.

* * *

Two and half weeks later, Jace was knocking on Clary's door, shifting from foot to foot, anxiously. He was never comfortable having to dress up for family dinners, and his freshly pressed button down shirt, khakis, and shiny, black dress shoes were making him feel very unlike himself. He actually used to avoid holidays with the Lightwoods altogether, not liking to be reminded of family traditions or what could have been, but after he had worked the fourth Christmas in a row, Maryse had put her foot down, insisting that the station would have to settle for him working alternating Holidays. So this year he told his boss he could cover the Christmas shift, but Thanksgiving would be spent at home, per his mother's mandate. The Chief, Hodge, had chuckled a bit at the thought of one of his guys being ordered around by his mother, but Jace knew he understood since he had quickly nodded and told him that they could have one of the rookies cover the holiday, before slapping Jace on the back and sending him on his way.

Clary opened the door and Jace felt his mouth drop open a little at the sight in front of him. Gone were the messy curls he loved, tamed into a straight, glossy red mane that fell down to the top of her hips. Her usual slipper socks were replaced with sparkly black heels that raised her head to his chin, and complimented the sleek, black pencil skirt and deep green sweater she wore tucked into it. Jace wasn't good at picking up on this sort of thing, but he thought she was even wearing a bit of makeup, her lashes looking infinitely long and dark, framing her green eyes beautifully.

"Hi," she greeted him with a bright smile.

Jace shook himself out of his stupor and smiled back. "Hi yourself," he replied, leaning in to give her a light kiss on the cheek, hand gently gripping her elbow. Her skin was softer than he had imagined and he took a moment longer to pull away than he maybe should have. When he did, her cheeks were prettily pinked, her eyes taking a few seconds longer to flutter back open. "You look beautiful," he said earnestly, enjoying the way the rosy coloring seemed to travel from her cheeks, all the way down to her chest.

"Thanks," she mumbled, shyly looking toward the ground for a moment.

Jace stepped to the side, offering her his arm, "Ready to go?" He asked.

Clary grabbed a long, black coat from a hook next to the door, shrugging it on. "Ready," she responded, taking his arm, and they descended the stairs together.

* * *

What should have been an uneventful cab ride to Maryse's was a bit of a nightmare. The cabbie took at least 3 wrong turns and they somehow managed to get the only taxi in NYC whose heater was broken. Jace wasn't even sure that it was legal to drive a cab in the Winter in New York without heat, but they were already in, and he wasn't about to get out and try to catch another one when taxis were so hard to come by on a holiday.

When he finally deduced that the quiet clicking sound he heard was actually Clary's teeth chattering together and not yet another tick of this strange taxi, he lifted his arm in invitation for her to cuddle into him for warmth.

"I'm f-f-f-fine," she tried to insist as another round of shivers wracked her small body, her hands curling deeper into her pockets as she hunched her shoulders forward.

"So you're just doing your best Porky Pig impression?" Jace quipped, smirking at her playfully.

Clary made a sardonic face and rolled her eyes, but then she was unstrapping her seatbelt and scooting across the backseat until she was pressed up against him. Jace's arm instantly curled around her, rubbing her own rapidly in an attempt to infuse warmth. When they finally arrived at the Lightwood residence, Clary's shivers had subsided and Jace gave the driver a generous tip. It was a holiday, after all.

* * *

Jace grabbed Clary's hand, leading her up the long stone pathway to the front door, her eyes wide and mouth agape in wonder. He supposed he had looked the same way as a child when he was brought to the mansion with its towering, white pillars and rolling acres of grass and foliage, but he had become desensitized to all the opulence and grandeur over the years. When they finally reached the entryway, he raised the large, brass knocker on one of the double doors twice with his free hand, letting it fall hard against the thick wood.

Within a minute, the door was swung widely open, an excited Isabelle smiling and ushering them in, already chatting a mile a minute. Jace didn't fail to catch the way she eyed their hands as they released their interwoven fingers to remove their coats, hanging them in the foyer coat closet. She didn't comment on it, however, leading them down the hall to the formal dining room where everyone else was apparently already gathered.

Jace saw his brother stand up from the table, moving to clasp his hand and pull him into a hug. "Never thought I'd see the day that you were later than Isabelle," Alec said, lightly punching his arm with a teasing smile on his face.

Jace returned the smile easily, happy to see his brother so carefree, "We must have got the worst taxi in all of New York," he lamented.

"Excuses, excuses," Magnus chimed in. Jace turned to his brother's effervescent boyfriend, grin widening.

"No need to get snippy just because you missed me, Liberace," Jace replied as he hugged him. The Asian man quickly pushed him away with a glare at the nickname.

"Rude as ever, Narcissus," Magnus responded, though there was a smile chasing away the words. "And who," he continued with a dramatic wave of his hand toward where Clary was standing behind Jace, quietly taking this all in, "is this lovely little nymph?"

Jace rolled his eyes, but graciously stepped aside so Clary was fully in view. "This," he said, placing a gentle hand on the small of her back, "is Clary. Clary, this is my brother, Alec, and the glitter bomb next to him is his boyfriend, Magnus." He leaned down, putting his mouth right next to her ear to whisper lowly, "Careful, if he hugs you, it's contagious."

Clary giggled and elbowed him gently in the side before extending her hand, first to Alec ,who shook it politely, but quickly. Then to Magnus, who instead chose to raise her hand to his mouth, planting a kiss on the knuckles, earning an eye roll from Jace, a fond smile from his boyfriend, and another charmed giggle from the petite redhead. "Where's Mom?" Jace questioned, looking around for their matriarch.

"Right here," he heard Maryse respond as soon as he spoke the question, gracefully strolling into the dining room with turkey. He watched as she placed it on the table; her dark hair was twisted into an sophisticated up-do, the locks had a few streaks of gray that he didn't recall being there last he was home, but other than that, she remained the picture of elegance in her blue shift dress, that matched her and Alec's sapphire eyes. "Happy Thanksgiving, Darling," she greeted him with a kiss to each cheek. "And you," she carried on, turning to their guest "must be Clary." She pulled her into a hug, "It's lovely to meet you, Dear. I've heard so much about you," she said causing Clary to turn her head in an attempt to look at Jace, surprise clearly etched in her features. Jace's face however, matched her surprise and Maryse clarified as she pulled away from the hug, "From Isabelle, Dear."

A look of understanding passed Clary's face and Jace had to resist the urge to openly glare at his raven-haired sister's cheeky grin. Point 1 to Isabelle.

Soon, they were all seated at the table, gaily digging into their dinners. The conversation and the wine seemed to flow freely, though Jace was more cautious, careful not to overindulge this time, acutely aware of his broken coffee machine at home. There was no way he was risking a hangover with no caffeine to taper it.

Jace had been worried that his mother would dig into Clary's family, asking why she wasn't with them for the holiday, but either Isabelle had warned her not to say anything, or Maryse had more sensitivity than he had given her credit for, because she kept all conversation and questions directed at his neighbor relatively light and innocuous. What Jace didn't count on, was for it to be an innocent question from Alec, his relatively quiet brother attempting to be friendly for Jace's sake, sensing that Clary was somehow important to him, that derailed the previously frictionless dinner.

"So Clary, what do you do for work?" Alec inquired. From the corner of his eye, Jace noticed his sister pause in her chewing, and he wondered just how much of his neighbor's background she knew. However, he was more focused on the minute tensing of Clary's shoulders, and the way her polite smile seemed to take on a bit of a nervous tinge.

"I'm actually not," she said, and Jace couldn't help his eyebrows raising slightly in surprise. He didn't really know what he thought she was doing since she told him that she dropped out of college, but he realized that he had just assumed she was working somewhere. If she was at odds with her father, but not working to support herself, how was she able to afford renting the flat next to his? Savings?

Seeming to have noticed some of the confusion of the dinner guests, Clary continued, "Right now I'm taking advantage of my my mother's estate, living off of that so I can to focus on my art." She tucked her hair behind her ear and shrugged continuing with a lightness that didn't fit her previously somber tone, "I'm hoping to create enough pieces of quality to be able to put together a portfolio within the next couple of months, that I can then use to shop around for an agent to hopefully work with me on getting my pieces sold and displayed." Jace's head spun for a moment with this information. He knew Clary was an artist, that wasn't surprising. But she said she's living off an estate? Did that mean her mother is dead? Jace felt his throat close, his airways, tightening and he tried to swallow, blinking rapidly.

Just when he was starting to see spots, his own parents faces flashing in front of his eyes in a chaotic whirl, he felt a large hand squeeze his shoulder, and focused back into the present, to his brother's concerned glance. Jace gave Alec a weak smile, trying to reassure him. The conversation, it appeared, had progressed without him, Magnus and Clary now enthusiastically discussing the techniques used by the painters of Latvian Churches in the seventeenth century.

After a few more minutes of listening to Clary's melodic voice, cheerfully chatting away with his family, and allowing himself another glass of wine, Jace was able to relax back into the happy atmosphere of the meal.

Jace enjoyed the rest of the meal, and even somehow made room for dessert. He watched as Clary beamed when Maryse insisted that next year she would have to bring her pumpkin pie, after she had spoken of her mother's recipe, and Jace felt another piece of the puzzle that was Clary Fray-Morgenstern click into place with contentment.

* * *

 **A/N: Well, there's a bit more of Clary. What did you think? Did any of you guess that Jocelyn wasn't still alive? It's looking like Jace is feeling a bit more bonded to Clary over this.**

 **It might not be noticeable, since this fic isn't terribly dramatic, but we're getting pretty close to the climax of this story! I never intended for this story to be longer than 15 chapters, so I would say everything should be wrapped up soon! I don't have an exact number of chapters planned, but I have a timeline written through chapter 11, so we don't have much to go! I can't believe we've hit 150 followers - you all are truly fantastic!**

 **This brings me to why I asked you to read this note - there's a poll in my profile asking what you would like to see from me next when 5B wraps up! PLEASE VOTE!  
In addition to the choices up in the poll, you can always send me a request as well! I'm also thinking of doing one of those A-Z song fics since I'm always writing to music, so if you have any song requests for that, please let me know! **

**As always, if you leave a review, I'll send you a preview for next week's chapter! :)**


	9. Santa Claus is Thumbing to Town

**A/N: Once again, we all owe a MASSIVE thank you to ShadowHunter303. I just finished writing this chapter an hour ago and she hopped on editing it like a ROCK STAR.**

 _Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/aspects taken from The Mortal Instruments or pop culture references made within this fanfiction.  
_

* * *

Jace hurried to the apartment building, cursing himself for forgetting gloves when the wind bit into him once more. He struggled with the lobby key; his shaking hands were inhibiting him from properly inserting the key into the lock and it scraped harshly around the hole before making the connection. When he finally found success, hearing the triumphant click of the door unlocking, it swung open and he rushed in. He hastily pulled the door closed behind him to shut out the chill. Cold fronts like this made him question why he lived in New York sometimes.

Jace paused in the lobby, blowing on his hands in an attempt to imbue warmth into them. Flexing his frozen fingers a couple of times, feeling his skin crack in protest at the movement, he moved to go up the stairs. Before he made it to the steps, he spotted a flash of red in the mail room out of the corner of his eye and decided now was as good a time as any to check his mail.

He approached his redheaded neighbor who appeared entirely consumed in emptying her mailbox, pleased to see her bright, red mane back to its natural state of curls. The strands fell wildly about her shoulders, contrasting prettily with her neat, black peacoat in their chaos. Seeing her seemingly still oblivious to his presence, an idea took shape in his head, his lips quirking playfully. Quietly stepping up behind her, he waited another breath to allow her the chance to realize he was there and then, "Boo!" Jace shouted abruptly in her ear, hands clamping down on her arms in sudden synchronicity.

Clary emitted an extremely loud squeak that he was sure would have had any nearby dogs howling at its pitch, jumping nearly a foot in the air. Jace couldn't help his throaty chuckle as she spun around and instantly began whacking him with the mail in her hand, though admittedly with less gusto than he probably deserved for the stunt.

"Jerk," she muttered, her eyes narrowed in a glare. Her breaths were quick and uneven as she clearly fought and lost a battle not to smile. Jace watched her lips reluctantly twitch up at the sides.

"Just making sure you stay on your toes, Doll," Jace quipped, still snickering slightly and throwing her a quick wink. Thankfully his hands were steadier now; he deftly unlocked his own mailbox, gathering the few items in there and securing the door once more.

Clary exhaled an exaggerated huff, her petite frame rising and falling with it, but then, "I'm actually glad I ran into you." She pushed a long curl from her face, her breathing seeming to steady out once more.

Jace smirked, "Finally, she admits it."

This earned him an eye roll. "I'm found out. Oh baby. I want you. I need you," Clary droned in a monotone voice, her face evincing a look of such utter boredom, Jace couldn't help his smirk widening into a full-fledged smile as he felt his cheeks dimple and eyes crinkle slightly.

"Admittance is the first step to recovery," he quipped. "But then again," Jace stepped closer until he could feel her curls brushing up and down against his arm as she took a large, stuttering breath and continued, his voice dropping half an octave, "sometimes giving in is more rewarding."

Jace watched the muscles in her throat work as she swallowed and wondered for a moment how it would be to feel the movement beneath his lips, staring intently at the juncture where the gossamer skin of her neck met her delicately shaped jaw. Maybe-

His thoughts scattered as he felt her small hand push lightly against his cheek, turning his face away from her as she nimbly stepped back to put a respectable distance between them once more. "You're going to have to try harder than that, Casanova," she said, tapping the side of his face a couple of times lightly.

A laugh rumbled deep in his chest, bubbling out of his throat as he shook his head. They moved together to ascend the stairs and as they started to climb, "I'm hosting an ugly sweater party. You in?" Clary asked.

Jace glanced over at her as they rounded the first landing, "I'm not sure a sweater is capable of looking ugly on me."

Clary snorted, "Even better. I won't have to worry about you winning the contest."

"There's a contest?" Jace questioned. "What's the prize?"

"Bragging rights," Clary said, shifting her mail under her arm.

Jace gestured to his physique, "But I already have so much material for that."

The redhead gently thumped his arm once more with a magazine, "Are you coming or not?"

Jace cradled his "wounded" arm dramatically, smiling when this earned a light giggle from her. "You never said when the party is," Jace pointed out cheerfully.

"Right! I was thinking next Friday," she said.

Jace thought for a moment and shook his head. "Can't. I have work," he said, grimacing.

Clary frowned, "That Saturday?" She suggested hesitantly.

Jace grinned and nodded. "So it's next Saturday," she asserted more confidently.

They reached the fifth floor, "Next Saturday it is," Jace said with a smile. He turned to his apartment.

"Oh wait," Clary tapped his arm and Jace twisted back to face her. "I need your number."

"I'll have you know I don't give my number out to just anyone," Jace said, even as he was reaching into his back pocket and procuring his phone.

Clary laughed and took his phone from his hand, texting rapidly until he heard a ding go off in her pocket. "Don't worry, I only plan on using it for bathroom stall graffiti."

Jace smiled, taking his phone back, "As long as it's tasteful."

* * *

The next day Jace was punching his time card at the station when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Nodding to a couple of the guys and making his way over to the break station for some coffee, he tried not to scowl as he thought of his defunct Keurig.

When his phone went off again, reminding him that he hadn't looked at the message, he pulled it out of his pocket and opened it to a number with no name attached to it in his contacts.

' _Hey bby what u doing tonight? the bathroom at Taco Bell says you're a good time'_

Jace chuckled quietly to himself and quickly replied.

' _Babe, I'm always a good time.'  
_ ' _And really Fray? Taco Bell? I thought we were keeping this classy?'_

He was just sitting down with his coffee when his phone was buzzing in his hand again.

He read, ' _I wanted a crunchwrap. don't diss the Bell!'_

Before Jace could type out a response his phone vibrated again, with

' _What r u doing?'_

Jace typed back in rapid succession. ' _Didn't realize you were so passionate about tacos. Just finishing up my coffee and starting work. You?'_

Once again, he didn't have to wait long for Clary's reply. ' _Oh just banging my head on the desk because i can't seem to get the hands right in this portrait.'_

After taking a quick look around to make sure the chief wasn't waiting on him for anything, Jace took another sip of his coffee and replied, ' _If you need a model, you just have to ask. I'll even pose nude ;)'_

He finished off his coffee, crumpling the Styrofoam cup in his hand with a satisfied feeling. The station seemed quiet today. _'I'm certain I don't need more anatomy to struggle with, but thanks ;)'_

Jace felt his blood rushing a bit faster through his veins when he saw her send a winking emoji back and quickly replied, wanting to talk to Clary as much as possible before he had to stuff his phone away for the day. ' _Well, the offer stands. I have to get working, but try not to bang your pretty little head too hard.'_

"What are you smiling about Herondale?" Hodge asked as he round the corner.

Jace quickly stuffed his phone in his pocket and tried to school his face into a mask of stoicism, "Nothing, Sir."

The chief raised a brow at him, but carried on his way. Jace felt a smile bloom across his face once more when he pulled out his phone one last time to see, ' _Screw it. I'll just give him a hook. Pirates are in! Have fun at work! (:'_

* * *

The next week and a half passed quickly, filled with overtime and texts from Clary and before Jace knew it, he was panicking. It was Saturday, the 'Ugly Sweater' party was tonight, and Jace now realized that he not only didn't own any ugly sweaters, but he wasn't sure where to obtain one.

He briefly considered texting Alec, knowing that Magnus and Izzy often referred to his brother's sweaters as "unfortunate," but he was also pretty sure that it was mostly due to the fact that Alec wore them until the color faded beyond recognition and holes began to form. Jace couldn't exactly rapid-age a sweater and he wasn't about to drive several hours to borrow one of Alec's. Plus, he didn't think that was quite what Clary meant.

This was how he found himself walking out of Target, grateful for self-checkout so no cashier could witness his shame. His purchase was a $20 maroon sweater reading "Merry Elfin' Christmas" that he had deemed the least embarrassing of the options. At least he wouldn't have to travel beyond the hallway in it to get to Clary's apartment.

Saturday night rolled around quickly and Jace took one last forlorn glance at the sweater before pulling it on over his white t-shirt and walking over to Clary's. He knocked twice and the redhead opened the door quickly. She was wearing a loose, dark green sweater that might have been decent once upon a time. As it was now, someone had sewn bright, gold garland into it, vaguely in the shape of a Christmas tree. There were small, fuzzy balls in a myriad of colors hanging off the garland and it looked as though someone had dipped the hemline of the sweater in rainbow glitter. It was a lot to take in.

Jace glanced up to her bright, smiling face as she said, "Merry Elfin Christmas?"

Jace shrugged a single shoulder, "I warned you no sweater could be ugly on me."

Clary giggled and stepped back, gesturing him inside. "It's a tough life you lead. Now come in. You're late!"

Jace walked into Clary's rather festive-looking apartment, taking in the shimmery silver garland around the TV and small Christmas tree in the corner. When he turned to his right, he noticed twinkle lights lining the kitchen counter and at the start of the hallway he thought he spotted mistletoe hanging from the ceiling, a rosy-cheeked elf sitting atop the green sprig.

Clary moved past him into the kitchen as he found himself greeting the same group from Friendsgiving. He hugged Isabelle, who seemed to have go all out for the occasion sporting an ugly sweater dress with an obnoxiously bright pattern and her hair tied up in a bow that would have looked tacky on anyone else, but she somehow seemed to make it into a sleek up-do. Jace watched with narrowed eyes at how she seemed to lean into Simon's side, placing a possessive hand on the arm of his Darth Vader sweater that really had nothing "Christmas-y" about it other than the text, "I Find Your Lack of Cheer Disturbing"

Jonathan disturbed his scrutiny of Isabelle's behavior when he clapped him on the back, greeting him. The blonde man's sweater was simple, but vulgar, reading 'Jingle My Bells' and after seeing Jordan and Maia's "He's Naughty" and "I'm Nice" couple sweaters and Eric's "Yeti to Party" ensemble, he felt a bit more comfortable in his own unfortunate garb.

Clary re-entered the room with two beers in hand, passing off one to Jace which he took with an appreciative nod. Music was playing, snacks were out, and the time passed quickly as Jace settled into the jovial vibe of the party.

A few hours in, he found himself seated on that small, olive couch once more. Clary was sitting next to him, her leg tucked underneath her and her thigh pressed closely into his own. She was telling him a story about her first day of college classes when she had accidentally walked into a senior level economic course. She had realized her mistake ten minutes into the class and tried to sneak out, but the professor scolded her and told her to be seated. So she spent the next 90 minutes pretending to take notes until the class was dismissed and she was forced to try to explain to her Accounting 101 professor why she had missed the first class when she e-mailed him for the syllabus.

The flush on her cheeks as she recounted the experience was mesmerizing. Maybe it was the beers he had drank or maybe it was the way she smiled and leaned into him as she spoke, but Jace couldn't help but reach out and lightly trace her cheek; the urge to feel the warmth of her blush beneath his fingertips overwhelming him. Her eyes widened slightly. Jace was ready to pull back quickly and stutter out an 'I'm sorry,' but then she tilted her head leaning into his touch and the apology died in his throat.

"Yeah! Get it, Lewis!" Eric's slurred cheer captured Jace's attention, snapping him out of what had felt like his and Clary's own, little world. Jace lifted his head to see his sister tangled around Simon underneath the mistletoe and it looked as though they were trying to eat each other's faces. That was an image he wasn't going to be able to unsee, the beer churning bitterly in his stomach as he took it in.

Then, he watched in horror as Simon slid his hand downward, stopping at Isabelle's bum and squeezing. "Oh Hell no," Jace growled. He was up from the couch in a flash, roughly pulling Simon off his sister before hauling his fist back and punching him squarely in the jaw.

"Jace!" Isabelle shrieked harshly in his ear as Simon crumpled unceremoniously to the ground. He shook out his fist and watched apathetically as she fawned over the brown-haired boy. The nerd was conscious, so Jace wasn't sure what she was so worried about.

"Are you _kidding_ me?" Jace turned to his right to face Clary as the angry words spilled from her lips. A furious expression was etched into her features and he leaned back slightly, unprepared for the fire burning in her eyes directed toward him.

"What? He was groping my sister!" Jace defended himself, though it only seemed to anger Clary further as she drew up into the tallest version into herself, her own hands balling into fists.

"They were kissing," the redhead hissed. "And if Isabelle didn't like it, I'm sure she would have made it known!"

"So I'm just supposed to just sit by while he paws at her in public?" Jace asked incredulously.

"Well, you don't PUNCH him!" Clary's voice rose an octave and she took a deep breath before continuing in a lower, but shaky voice, "I think you should go." Jace sucked in a sharp breath, unprepared for her words or the disappointed way she was looking at him.

"Clary," Jace said quietly, pleading with her to understand. He knew hitting Simon was an overreaction, but this was his little sister and he just saw red for a moment and didn't think before he acted. He just wanted a chance to explain. Simon would be fine and Jace would even apologize.

He felt a hand clamp down gently on his shoulder and turned to meet the eyes of a grim-looking Jon. "Come on buddy, I'll walk with you."

Jace turned back to Clary and then glanced away quickly, seeing a broken look in her eyes that would haunt him in the days to come. He nodded numbly and within minutes he was standing in front of his own apartment door with Jon.

"I…" Jace began and trailed off helplessly, unsure of what he could say.

Jon just nodded, a frown pulling at his lips. "I get it," he commiserated. "But the guy is her best friend. And Clary really hates violence. Just," he paused for a moment and shrugged, "just give her some time to cool off, yeah?"

Jace mumbled out a, "Yeah, okay," before turning to unlock his apartment door as Jon patted him sympathetically on the back and walked back over to the party. He leaned against the door once he was in his apartment, banging his head against it and closing his eyes in frustration.

Merry Elfin Christmas, indeed.

* * *

 **A/N: AHHH, don't kill me! 0:) I knoooow this isn't fun, but this fluff piece needed a little bit of conflict! And I think (well, I hope!) that you will all be pleased with the resolution in the next chapter. Just stick with me - there's only a few chapters left in this story!**

 **Also, we're almost to 100 reviews! That is so exciting and I'm truly grateful to all of you!**

 **Reminder to vote in the poll in my profile! Also, leave a review & I'll send a preview to tide you over until next week! ;)**


	10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

**A/N: I have been trying to upload this chapter since 8am today! FF isn't letting me upload any new stories/chapters. Someone on twitter was kind enough to suggest replacing the text of another document in my doc manager with the chapter & here we finally are with an update!  
Thanks as always to ShadowHunter303 for being my beta!**

 _Disclaimer: Characters/all references to TMI are not mine._

* * *

When Jace awoke the next morning, there was a moment where he was not yet fully awake and still blissfully unaware of the events that transpired last night. Then his head twinged in pain and his bruised knuckles ached and it all came rushing back to him, his stomach dropping at the memory.

He went to work. Greeted who he was supposed to greet, nodding and smiling - or as close as he could get to a smile - on cue. If anyone really looked, they could probably tell something was wrong. Maybe some of the guys did and spared a sympathetic look, but Jace wasn't present enough to notice. He spent a large portion of the day lost in his head, replaying the events of last night, and another chunk of his time was spent staring at his phone.

It had only been a couple weeks of getting daily texts from Clary, but Jace had become accustomed to looking at his phone randomly throughout the day, often finding himself smiling when he saw what the redhead had messaged him. The texts hadn't really been anything of substance. Sometimes they were jokes. Sometimes they were simply a description of the people she saw in line at the coffee shop. And sometimes they were without a point at all; like a weird stream of consciousness that Clary decided to impart on him.

There had been something about knowing that he was the person Clary wanted to tell all of these random things to, though, that had pleased him. And now? Now that his phone had been silent all day, Jace felt the absence of those messages acutely.

When he was finally done with his shift and had punched his time card, he hopped on the 6 train back to the apartment and found himself simply staring at the blank screen of his phone the whole subway ride. Even as he exited the train and walked to his building, he had his thumb hovering over the keyboard while his eyes bored into the screen as if he could will a message to appear.

Jace climbed the stairs sluggishly and came to a complete stop at the top of the 5th floor landing. He didn't know how long he stood outside Clary's door, hand poised to knock. Eventually his arm grew tired hovering in the air and he forced his feet to move, trudging into his own apartment.

When he collapsed onto his black, leather couch he couldn't help but think that there was just something homier about olive-colored sofas as he sank into the cushion. Jace knew that he had put on the tv, but if you asked him what he watched that night or what he had for dinner, he couldn't tell you. What he did remember was climbing into bed, looking at the still blank screen of his phone, before he finally opened up his messages and sent two words.

' _I'm sorry_ '

He woke the next morning and felt a little stab when he saw that text notification he had been pining for the last 36 hours. It was also a simple two words.

' _I know_ '

* * *

Over the next week and a half, Jace went to work and back home, rinse and repeat. He didn't message Clary, unsure if that reply meant he was forgiven, and much to his disappointment she didn't text him either.

The only outlier in this pattern was Thursday's 45 minute phone call with Isabelle. She had called him, armed with a long list of reasons why punching Simon was uncalled for and wrong, but he had cut her off mid-sentence within the first 3 minutes with an acknowledgement and apology. An occurrence rare enough to shock his loquacious sister into silence for a full 30 seconds.

The rest of the phone call consisted of Izzy prodding him to go talk to Clary and him telling Isabelle to mind her own business. They both grew frustrated, talking in circles, until she finally called him an emotionally constipated numbskull and he said he needed to go to work and promptly ended the phone call.

He didn't have work for another 2 hours at that point, but he had a feeling calling his sister a nosy, meddling gossip monger right after earning her forgiveness for punching her - he shuddered at this thought - her boyfriend, was not in his best interest.

The rest of the days passed in a blur until Christmas morning.

Christmas morning arrived and Jace was up bright and early, prepared to work. After a sappy phone call with Maryse, he was out the door. When he reached the station, all was quiet. This was not unexpected as he was working with a skeleton staff for the holiday. That calm lasted about five minutes before shit hit the fan.

A five alarm fire broke out at a large, residential building. It was the largest fire Jace had seen in his time on the force - 44 units and 198 men were called to the scene. It was chaotic, but after the initial rush of adrenaline, Jace calmly executed orders from the chief. Everyone was tired and hot and would rather be home with their families, but watching other families losing everything they owned on Christmas morning rather put things into perspective and he could feel the determination and single mindedness of the crew to get this fire under control and get all the people out.

Being Rescue 5, Jace was sent into the building with his team, helping to evacuate those who hadn't made it out of the building. It was going smoothly, all things considered, until a beam collapsed on one of his co-workers. This panicked the remaining residents further, but Jace's crew had trained for this.

They managed to carry out their fallen comrade, badly burned as he was, as well as the remaining residents, though several had to be taken to the hospital for burns and smoke inhalation. Jace turned his attentions to helping the extinguishing crew, but Hodge barked out orders to him to get checked out and treated for smoke inhalation due to the amount of time he had spent on the scene.

He brushed by the cameras and reporters covering the story, keeping his head down and declining comment. When he finally got the okay from the medics, the fire had been contained and the Chief dismissed him to go get some rest.

Jace arrived back to his own apartment building, looking up at it gratefully. The adrenaline was wearing off and he could feel ache in his body down to his bones. Visions of his parents faces, of the firemen who pulled him from his home, but not them danced through his mind, and he closed his eyes, rubbing his forehead as he fought against them.

Shaking off the ghosts of his past, he entered the building and began his weary trek up the stairs. As he came in sight of the 5th floor landing, his eyes down on his feet, a blur of red whizzed toward him and barrelled into him with such momentum that he stumbled back a step before regaining his balance.

It took him a moment to register that his petite redhead neighbor was clinging to him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck, her face pressed into his chest, and she was mumbling. He took a moment to revel in the hug, having missed her warmth more than he could remember missing anything over the last nine days.

After a minute when she still hadn't released her death grip on him, he listened closely, trying to make out her mumbling against his chest. Jace sucked in a sharp breath when he realized her mantra was a broken sounding repetition, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Jace."

He reached up to gently loosen her grip on him, just enough that he could take a small step back. She made a noise of protest at the space between them, but he shushed her, pushing her unruly curls back from her face, his eyes widening when he saw the tears gathered in her eyes. "Hey," Jace said gently stroking her cheek. "What's wrong, Clary?" he inquired quietly.

Clary hiccuped, "W-what's wrong?" She questioned.

Jace nodded, still flabbergasted as to why this beautiful girl was crying in his arms.

"What's wrong?" She repeated, "What's wrong is that I haven't talked to you in NINE days. Nine days!" She hiccuped again and Jace had to fight the quirking of his lips at the action. Even with her red nose and teary, wild eyes she was the best thing he had seen in over a week.

"I know," he said quietly, still unsure why this was the cause for her tears now. His hand that wasn't cradling her face gently stroked up and down her back in an effort to soothe her.

"I saw the news," Clary continued, "I saw the news and there was this massive fire."

Jace couldn't help a small chuckle, "I noticed."

Her arms tightened around his neck, "Jace, I saw this huge fire and all I could think was that you were probably there. You were there and I hadn't talked to you in nine days and something could have happened to you!" Clary's voice was growing in volume, the tears he had seen in her eyes slowly rolling down her cheeks now and Jace didn't know how to comfort her. He didn't know how to fix this any more than he knew how to fix things over this past week and a half and he felt like an idiot for it.

"You're not telling me anything I didn't know," he replied. Jace stroked his thumb slowly over her bottom lip, watching it drop open beneath the gentle pressure.

"Jace," her voice sounded choked and Jace felt his heart twist painfully. Why was he so bad at this? But before he could try to mumble out anything in an attempt to comfort her, he was surprised by her quickly closing the space between them and pressing her lips to his own.

She was up on her toes, her hands twining into his blonde curls that were still browned with soot from the fire. She pulled his head down so her lips could meet his and Jace froze. This beautiful girl that he had been obsessing over for four months was kissing him and he froze! His brain just seemed to short-circuit.

Clary pulled away for a moment, looking into his shocked face with concern. That's when Jace finally snapped into action. He wrapped both of his arms around her, pressing her into him with all of his might as he crashed his mouth back down to hers with fervor. He relished in her soft gasp, deepening the kiss.

Jace had just started to become accustomed to the tingling feeling that spread through him whenever he and Clary touched, but that was accidental brushes, maybe some cuddling or light hand holding. It didn't hold a candle to the intensity of what he was feeling now. The tingles had turned into a fully electric sensation, buzzing through his skin everywhere they touched.

Jace had thought all this time that it was her apartment that felt like home, but he realized now it was her. The way her small body pressed into his. The way she clung onto him so tightly, as if he might disappear, as if there was ever any chance of him leaving her way she smelled familiar, like strawberries, and coffee, and paint. It was the oddest scent. Something that he never would have thought to smell good, but the combination set off a whirl of thoughts repeating over and over again in his mind, 'perfect, good, right, home.'

When they finally broke for air he rested his forehead against hers momentarily. Breathing in her scent and reassuring himself that this was really happening. She let out another small hiccup, prompting Jace to open his eyes and look down at her beautiful face, and then he started laughing. Not a small chuckle, but a full belly laugh.

Clary widened her eyes in surprise. He thought she was trying to look offended, but a grin broke out over her face and she began to giggle; his laughter was seemingly infectious. "What's so funny?" She managed to ask.

Jace drew in a deep breath, regaining some of his composure. "I'm still pretty dirty from that fire," he said through the laughs still escaping him.

Clary grinned back at him, "I can see that," she said, raising her eyebrows pointedly.

"Ah, but what you can't see," he explained cheekily, "is yourself." Clary's brows furrowed in confusion and he decided a demonstration was in order. Given his own hands were still dirty from the fire, he took one of her hands in his own and brought it to her face, gently rubbing her fingers against her skin and then pulling away so she could see the grime now covering them.

Clary stared at her soiled fingers, her mouth dropping open slightly in understanding before she began laughing again in earnest. "You. Sooted. Me!" She gasped out, barely comprehensible.

Jace tilted his head, smiling widely. "What are you going to do about it, Fray?" He challenged.

Clary moved away from him. She walked backwards up the remaining steps, her laughter dying off, but a bright smile staying in place. "Well," she hedged as she reached the landing, reaching behind her to feel around for the door to her apartment. "Obviously," she continued and Jace narrowed his gaze on her as she finally found the handle behind her, "I'll just have to get clean."

"Great idea," Jace smirked as he prowled slowly toward her, nodding amicably. "I could use a shower."

Clary tsked and shook her head. "That wasn't an invitation, Herondale," she teased.

Jace closed the remaining space between them in one large stride, placing his hands on either side of her head. "Ah, but conserving water is important, don't you think?" He asked, leaning in so her chest brushed against his as she breathed in. Jace dipped his head so his mouth was right by her ear and whispered, "Besides, I can help with all of those hard to reach places."

He felt it as Clary shivered beneath him, her hand on the door knob twisting and opening it behind her. Her other hand fisted in his jacket, "When you put it that way…." She trailed off as she pulled him through the door.

He followed happily, kicking it shut behind him, stifling the sound of their laughter from the neighbors. He paused, gathering her back into his arms and looking down into her eyes with all the adoration and joy that he was feeling. "Merry Christmas, Clary"

* * *

 **A/N: Aaaand despite FF messing with me, Clace has finally kissed! What did you think? Was the angst worth it? Did it happen how you expected? This story is going to wrap up quickly, so drop a review while you can ;) Not to mention, I'll be sure to send you a preview of next week's chapter.**

 **Side note: the poll in my profile I mentioned? You can only see it from the desktop version of the site. It doesn't come up on mobile. Who knew? Not me! lol :)**


	11. Tears Dry On Their Own

**A/N: UPDATED 3/21/18 2:40PM - this chapter was beta'ed by the lovely Shadowhunter303. I'm not dead! But my laptop was and I sadly did not have the extra income to replace it which has made writing quite difficult. The epilogue is coming and I'm sorry for the wait everyone. Thanks for following this story and epilogue previews are going to to reviewers today!**

 _Disclaimer: As always, all characters/TMI references property of Cassandra Clare_

* * *

The next morning Jace was sitting at Clary's kitchen table while she brewed them some coffee. He was tired, but he was clean, comfortable, and happy that he didn't have to change out of the sweats he grabbed after their shower anytime soon.

Jace shuddered a bit, remembering what he had gone through to get those sweatpants. A shower with Clary had seemed like a great idea. That was until they were drying off and he came to the realization that all he had was his dirty uniform to put back on. It was covered in foam and soot from the fire. Eyeing it with disdain, he was pretty sure there was some blood that didn't belong to him on the left sleeve as well.

Jace had decided that the practical decision was to wrap up in a towel and endure the 6 foot walk of shame to his own apartment to grab clothes. There were no other apartments on the 5th floor and with the mailroom on the main level, the odds of him running into anyone were astronomically small.

Apparently, his good fortune for the day had not only run out, but depleted to negative levels. He had opened Clary's door to a red-faced Mrs. Tripler who had come to wish the only resident she actually liked of their small apartment building a Merry Christmas. The hallway still smelled of the fruitcake she had dropped on the floor in her shock.

Jace rubbed his hands down his face and shook his head. Of all the people that could have been at Clary's door, he's not sure he could imagine a worse option. When Clary approached the table with the coffee, he took the mugs from her hands and set them down. Grabbing her around the waist, he nimbly pulled her into his lap. With Clary's petite form cuddled into him, he placed a kiss on her head and she curled a socked foot around his calf and Jace felt the bad memory melt away at her touch.

"This chair feels lumpier than usual," Clary commented, playfully wiggling around in Jace's lap.

Jace felt the corners of his mouth lift up in response, his fingers playing with the edge of her t-shirt, curling and uncurling the material repeatedly. "If you're too uncomfortable, maybe we should go back to bed," he said suggestively.

Clary twisted at the waist to face him. "We just got out of bed," she pointed out unhelpfully.

"I'm really not seeing the problem," Jace drawled, slipping his hand under Clary's t-shirt to trace up and down her side with a featherlight touch.

Clary squirmed a bit, letting out a breathless giggle at the contact. She looked Jace in the eyes and he felt his heart do that strange flip-flop again that she seemed to incite. He was about to further plead his case, but he couldn't stop the large yawn that escaped him just then.

He raised a hand to cover his mouth, but it was a delayed reaction. Clary tilted her head to the side, her long curls brushing softly against his forearm. "Still tired?" She questioned.

"I'm fine" Jace replied, punctuating his statement by pressing a light kiss to her cheek.

He felt her lean slightly into the kiss, but when she looked back to him, she had a crease between her brows and was chewing her bottom lip hard enough that he worried she might draw blood. "Hey," he said, reaching up to gently pull her lip free, tracing over the reddened area with his thumb. "What are you thinking so hard about this early in the morning?" He asked.

Clary took another moment, seeming to fight some inner battle with herself. "I was just. Uhm, I was just wondering something," she finally said."You don't have to answer if you don't want to," she quickly added.

Jace still had his arm curled around her waist and his hand had dropped down to her hip where he gave her a small squeeze. "Yes, I will make out with you," he deadpanned, pleased when she smiled, her eyes lighting up and cheeks flushing prettily in reaction.

"Very funny," she said, with a reproachful tap to his chest, "but I'm serious. I don't want to overstep any boundaries, but last night…" She trailed off. Jace waited for her to finish what she wanted to say, unsure of where she was going with this. After what felt like an eternity to Jace, Clary finally continued in a soft tone, "Last night, it seemed like you were having nightmares."

Jacce felt his mouth dry and he cleared his throat before answering with a quiet, "Oh."

Clary picked up his free hand with both of her smaller ones, playing with the fingers and Jace stayed still, letting her manipulate them however she wanted. "You don't have to talk about it. I just thought," she paused again. "I thought, uhm. Was it the fire?" She questioned.

"No," Jace said quickly. Then maybe it was the open concern in her face or the way she held his hand so gently, like he might break if her grip was too strong. He definitely wasn't used to being treated like he was fragile. Maybe Maryse had treated him that way when he first came to live with the Lightwoods, but he was young and stubborn and struck out at her. She quickly reverted to using a firm hand and other than regular, motherly concern, he hadn't felt that kind of care from someone since.

So, he continued, "Not that fire anyway." Clary's mouth dropped open a bit like she wasn't expecting him to elaborate. He couldn't blame her. Talking about this was something he had purposely avoided the last fifteen years. "You know how Izzy's last name is Lightwood, but mine is Herondale?" He asked. When Clary nodded, he carried on, "If you didn't guess it, I'm adopted. My birth parents, they died when I was ten."

"Jace," she said and her voice was so stricken, he felt his heart swell and squeeze. It didn't sound like the pity he resented and actively avoided from everyone growing up. When her eyes watered, he knew it was from an understanding only someone who had lost a parent could have.

"We had a small home in New Jersey. It was an old home and the wiring probably should have been updated, but there weren't any outright signs that it was faulty," he swallowed through the lump in his throat. "There was a fire one night when we were sleeping," he clarified. "My dad," Jace shook his head slightly, "He had fallen asleep in his office and didn't make it out. None of us did on our own, we were a family of heavy sleepers and the smoke detector wasn't that loud I guess," he said with a small shrug, the memory blurred somewhat with time.

"The firemen got me out in time. My mom too, they thought. Turns out the smoke inhalation was too much for her lungs and she passed away a couple of days later." He watched as Clary to absorb this information.

She lifted one hand to place it against his chest and he felt his heartbeat speed up slightly. "Is that why you-" she began.

Jace interrupted, "Yes, it's why I went into fire rescue." He twined his fingers with her other hand that was still resting on top of his. "Seemed like the best way to get over my fear and pay it forward, I guess," he tried to punctuate this with a nonchalant shrug, but he knew his voice came out rougher than usual as he forced out the words.

Clary leaned forward then, gently pressing her lips to his and he felt some of the tension drain from his body. She pulled back far too soon for him, running her fingers gently through his blonde locks. "You are amazing," she declared.

With the way she looked at him and the conviction with which she said this, he almost believed her. When she leaned in for another kiss, he definitely felt it.

* * *

 **A/N: So this was a short chapter, but we (and Clary!) finally found out about Jace's parents! It just didn't feel right to me continuing it from there.**

 **Sorry this was posted late at night! My laptop has been dying a slow death & finally kicked the bucket today. Not the best timing. After being out all day, I had to borrow an iPad to get this posted for you.**

 **We only have one more chapter left in this story and it's a bit of an epilogue as there will be a time jump. Then we're done!  
** **Barring any outtakes/extras I post. Be sure to vote in the poll in my profile for what you would like to see! (Note: you have to be on a desktop to see the poll)**

 **What did you think of Jace's history? Is there anything specific you're hoping for in the epilogue? As always, if you leave a review, I'll shoot you a preview some time during the week!**


	12. Little Things

**A/N: Hi, Lovelies! I'm not dead...unfortunately my laptop is. Which is what makes writing really difficult right now. This isn't really an epilogue like I planned so much as a bonus chapter. Anyway, you've waited forever for new content so - ENJOY - and check out my author's note at the end.**

* * *

Jace and Clary had been practically inseparable. This was something that Jace was sure would have driven him crazy in his past "relationships," but somehow with Clary it worked.

Maybe it was that they could sit companionably in a room, her drawing and him reading, without feeling the need to fill the silence with meaningless prattle. Or that they moved around the kitchen in sync on nights when their schedules allowed them to have dinner together, wordlessly passing ingredients and stepping around each other in the small space with ease. Mostly, Jace just assumed that like everything else in his life these past few months, it was a phenomenon unique to Clary simply being Clary.

After two solid weeks of constant companionship and bliss, Jace finally realized that they had still yet to be on a proper date.

They were sitting on her sofa and Clary's small socked feet were across Jace's lap while he picked idly at a loose string on her leggings. He had been staring at the tv, but not really paying attention to what they were watching, just content to sit there enjoying the weight of her legs on his while he decompressed from work and then suddenly it hit him.

How had he never taken his girlfriend on a proper date? Did he even ask her to be his girlfriend? She was his girlfriend, right? Did you have to 'officially' ask when you're in your 20s? That was probably just a high school thing...

Something else hit him then. This time, a throw pillow that was still being held by his "probably" girlfriend with a sly smile on her sweet, freckled face. "Really?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Jace watched her delicately shrug one shoulder, her grip on the pillow loosening slightly. "You seemed like you were thinking too hard," she answered unapologetically.

"What happened to Clary 'violence is never the answer' Fray?" Jace teased.

Clary tilted her head and Jace watched as her curls shifted with the movement, catching the last bit of sunlight filtering in through the window. "I heard her boyfriend corrupted her," she replied breezily.

Jace felt his lips twitch and after a moment gave in, allowing the smile to bloom across his face. He saw Clary's eyes widen at what was probably a look of elation on his face, but he couldn't bring himself to care as he brought a hand to the back of his girlfriend's head, fingers twining in her soft curls as he guided her head to him. He gently pressed his lips against her own, the forgotten throw pillow crushed between their chests. "Do you think she would be up for a date with this boyfriend of hers?" Jace asked quietly, resting his forehead against hers, his lips slightly brushing hers as he spoke.

He felt Clary pull back and Jace raised his eyes to meet her playful, green gaze. "That depends," she hedged, smiling. "Can she pick the activity?"

* * *

Unsurprisingly, Jace had agreed to Clary's request to pick the activity. Unfortunately, that now left him sitting on a hard, metal chair eyeing a pair of rented bowling shoes with disgust while his girlfriend happily picked through the selection of balls, testing their weight and balance. She finally settled on a small purple one and walked back to their lane. He watched her set the ball down, seemingly pleased with her choice as he idly tugged on a shoelace, trying to delay the inevitable.

"They go on your feet," Clary pointed out unhelpfully, pushing the rank-smelling shoes toward him with a smile.

Jace reached up for her hand, gripping her fingers lightly. "Did I do something to make you angry?" He questioned in a serious tone.

Clary tilted her head, smile still in place. "Why would you ask that?" She replied, wiggling her fingers in his.

Jace gave his girlfriend's fingers a squeeze, "I'm just trying to figure out why you want me to get some sort of fungal infection. I thought you liked me having all ten toes."

Clary's smile grew and as indignant as he was, Jace couldn't help smiling a little at her in return. "I think all ten might be a little excessive, actually," she said, scrunching her nose in an adorable way that indicated she was fighting off laughter.

Jace gave a tug on her hand, toppling her over so that she had both hands braced on his shoulders and he could lean up to kiss her. He closed his eyes, trying to focus on the scent of her strawberry shampoo rather than the odor coming from rented loafers, but too soon for Jace, she pushed away. "Okay Romeo," she teased, "get your shoes on and let's get bowling."

* * *

"I can't believe you beat me," Clary pouted, continuing to stare at the scoreboard in dismay.

Jace knew being a sore loser was supposed to be an unattractive quality, but he couldn't help but think that was only because people hadn't seen the way his girlfriend's right cheek dimpled slightly when she pouted hard enough or how when she crossed her arms, it did wonders for displaying her assets in the flowery blouse she had worn. "I said I didn't like bowling. Not that I was bad at it," he reasoned.

"Whatever," Clary rolled her eyes and put her hand out, "give me your shoes and I'll exchange them for our own."

Jace tried to hide his smile at her tapping foot as he quickly removed them. He wrinkled his nose slightly as Clary scooped the shoes up and walked off to the counter to return the offending objects. At least he hadn't been overly attached to this pair of socks.

When Clary didn't return after a few minutes, he turned and craned his neck to see the shoe counter. There was no line, so he wasn't sure why he saw her mass of red curls still standing there until he squinted a bit and noticed the rentals still in her hand and a dark haired guy leaning over the counter, smiling her as she nodded a bit.

Jace felt his teeth grinding together and glanced back at the now blank score screen, taking in a deep breath of the stale bowling alley air in an attempt to restore his patience. After what felt like an hour, but was probably only a few more minutes, he turned back to the counter. Clary appeared no closer to obtaining their shoes and Mister Tall Dark and Chatty had reached across the counter, but instead of taking the rentals he paused, placing his hand on top of hers.

Before he thought about it, Jace was up and striding shoeless across the floor. He was so focused on the guy's hand resting on his girlfriend's that he barely registered the way his socks peeled across the sticky carpet.

Jace slowed his gait as he reached Clary, trying to appear casual as he placed an arm around her shoulders. To his delight, she turned toward him with a bright smile. Her hand had slid out from under the dark haired strangers and took residence on Jace's chest as she leaned into him and Jace felt his shoulders drop a little as some of his tension drained at the contact.

He reached up his free hand to cup her face and quickly bent his head to press his lips to hers. Clary let out a little squeak of surprise and Jace smiled into the kiss, breaking it momentarily. Usually Jace wasn't much for PDA, but he didn't think twice about moving to wrap both arms around his petite girlfriend, diving back in for another kiss and lifting her slightly off the ground, as she placed his arms on his shoulders for balance.

This time Jace didn't break the kiss for a long moment. And Clary let him carry on right until they heard the loud smack of their shoes hitting the counter next to them. Jace took a moment to admire her flushed cheek and glazed eyes before smiling at the now glowering shoe attendant, giving him a nod as he retrieved Clary's and his own in one swift movement.

He was going to have to burn these socks, but it was worth it.

* * *

 **A/N: So I am sticking a "complete" on this, because it feels complete to me. That being said, I will probably write a time jump epilogue at some point. I'm working on ways to write in spite of my laptop situation until I can afford to replace it...so we'll see how that goes.**

 **THANK YOU to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed throughout this story. It meant a lot to me and my soft Clace heart. If any of you are on twitter, come play with me over there too! ( Lilithsebastian)**

 **Finally, I had a guest reviewer ask for some clarification from the previous chapter so here's the question and the answer (hope it helps!)**

 **Original Review:** K Help  
I love the idea of this story and most of the chapters you wrote, however this chapter, I am assuming they had sex based on the fact that they showered together and "just got out of bed," and yet they haven't dated or even asked to be in a relationship and Clace isn't portrayed as being the kind of girl that sleeps with someone after these events. Please write an explanation in the A/N, when you post your next chapter. Thank you.

 _Ironically, they defined the relationship and went on a date in this chapter! But let's see if I can help out with your concerns here. So you're assuming that they had sex - maybe they did, maybe they didn't. I actually intentionally left that open ended. If people want to imagine that's what happened with the shower and sleepover, I am not going to burst that bubble for them and they can just skip right over this answer!  
However, that's actually not what I wrote for a reason (aside from this fic being rated T). In my mind, intercourse never happened that night - that's part of why Jace is trying so hard for it in the morning lol. They DID shower together though as well as sleep in the same bed that night and in my mind, that was incredibly intimate.  
These 2 had been dancing around their feelings for each other for months. They bonded and they well and truly fell for each other before they even kissed. Then they went through the trauma of Clary thinking Jace might have died without ever knowing how she felt and even worse, thinking that she hated him. Jace obviously had a rough time as well, thinking he screwed things up before he ever got his chance with this girl who he had such strong feelings for, not to mention the fire dredging up his past demons. They were both emotionally vulnerable and were there for each other, supporting each other. The act of showering together was them caring for each other. Sleeping in the same bed was the inability to let the other out of their sight after thinking they might have lost them forever. About needing to be with them and see them and feel them to know that they're really there with them and okay._

That was long...I hope it helped. If it didn't make an account and DM me or message me on Twitter or something.

 **No idea when I'll write anything else for this, but as usual anyone who reviews gets a preview. :)**


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